
ClassLAljIiS- 
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NEW YORK FREE SCHOOL NO. 1. 

THE NEW BUILDING OPENED IN 1809 IN TRYON ROW. 



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1 



lYt^yv Vayk (City) So cc ^^ c^ o^ ^ Ji U 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 



IN THE 



CITY OF NEW YORK: 



ITS HISTORY, CONDITION. 
AND STATISTICS. 



AN OFFICIAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

By Thomas Boese, 

Clerk of the Board. 



NEW YORK: 
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
1869. 



40.J43 







( 



TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 



In accordance with the request of your Honorable Board, I 
hereby transmit a report upon the origin, progress, and condition 
of Public Education in this city, to which are added statistics 
and other information in reference to the educational facilities 
provided by religious, charitable, and private means. 

The difficulty of obtaining material for the early history of 
education in this city was very great, owing to the fact that no 
attempt had heretofore been made to gather information on that 
subject. As the duties of my office take most of my time, it would 
have been impossible for me to obtain the necessary knowledge 
and properly compile it without assistance. This has been ren- 
dered by Thomas F. Harrison, Esq., Assistant Superintendent 
of Schools, who has been of much service both in obtaining the 
information, and in the literary labor requisite to the preparation 
of this report. 

THOMAS BOESE, 

Clerh of the Board of Education. 
New York, December 30, 1867. 



PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES USED IN THE COMPILATION OF 

THIS REPORT. 



Reports and Documents of the Board of Education. 

Reports and Addresses of the Public School Society. 

Minute-books of the Public School Society and its Committees. 

Minute-books of Public Schools. 

Sketch of the New York Free School. Collins & Perkins, 1807. 

Lancasterian System. Collins & Perkins, 1807. 

Dunshec's History of the School of the Reformed Dutch Church. N.Y. 1853. 

Brodhead's History of New York. 

History of the New York African Free Schools. Mahlon Day, 1830. 

"Valentine's Manuals of the Common Council. 

Mitchell's New York in 1807. 

Francis's Early New York. 

Hardie's Description of New York. 1827. 

New York as it Is. 1837. 

New York Past, Present, and Future. 1851. 

Life of John Griscom. 

Manuals of the Free School Society. 

Manuals of the Public School Society. 

Manuals of the Board of Education. 

Longworth's City Directories. 

Newspapers of various periods. 

Barnard's American Journal of Education. 

Reports of Legislative Committees. 1857 and 1866. 

Special Report of Superintendent Rice. 18G7. 

New York Code of Public Instruction, by Superintendent Rice. Albany, 

18G8. 
Charities of New York. 

Batchelor's History of Teachers' Associations of the City of New York. 
Personal reminiscences of various teachers and school officers (oral). 



CONTENTS. 



I. 

SCHOOLS OF NEW AMSTERDAM. 

ici4-ice4. 

Public Schools in Holland, 1585. — West India Company bound to main- 
tain Schools. — First Common School in America. — Adam Eoelaxd- 
SEN. — Stuyvesant. — Luyck's Latin School, 1G59. — Large number of 

j' Schools Page 11 

II. 

SCHOOLS DURING THE ENGLISH COLOXIAL PERIOD. 

1GC4-177C. 

Schools remain Dutch. — Lord Cornbury's efforts to anglicize them. — Trinity 

School, 1710. — Effects of Immigration. — King's School, 1754. — Struggle 

of the Dutch for their Language. — Whelp imported from Holland, 1755. 

— Eevolution closes all Schools 15 

IIL 

FROM THE EEVOLUTION TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FREE BCHOOL SOCIETY. 

17TG-1805. 

City during the Eevolutionary War.— Governor Clinton.— Act of 1795.— 
Rise of Benevolent Societies. — Educational Societies. — Manumission 
Society, 1785. — Female Association, 1802. — Teachers' Association. — 
Common School Fund established 20 

IV. 

ORIGIN AND ESTABLISHMENT OP THE FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1805. 
Free School Society. — Its Origin and Purpose. — Memorial of 1805. — Lengthy 
Title. — Lancaster 25 

V. 

FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1805-1824. 

First School.— Its Eemovals.— New Charter, 1808.— No. 2.— Effects of the 
War. — No. 3. — Apprentices. — Mr. Picton, of No. 4. — Arrival of Lancas- 
ter. — Separate Departments for Sexes. — Manual. — First Vacation. — Con- 
troversy with Baptists and others. — No. 5. — Pupils not restricted to special 
Districts 21) 



viii CONTENTS. 

VI. 

FREK SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1S24-1S2C. 

No, G.— Improvement in Character of Attendance.— Visit of La Fayette.— 
Bethel Baptist Church.— Proposition to introduce " Pay Scholars."— San- 
guine Anticipations as to theKesults Page 37 

VII. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

182G-1S2T. 

Third Charter, and new Title.— Schools become Pay Schools.— Preparatior 

for great Increase of Attendance.— No. 7.— No.8.— No. 9.— Establi- 

ment of Executive Committee.— Great Extension of Course of Study 

Central School. — Application for Assistants refused 

VIII. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1S2T-182S. 
Failure of Pay System.— Disastrous Results.— Caste. — Reports of Committee of 
Investigation. — First Result. — Poor American Citizens will not be consid- 
ered Paupers. — Second Result. — Failure of the One-teacher System of 
Lancaster. — Permanent paid Monitors-general 45 

IX. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1S28-1S29. 

Infant School Society. — Junior Department in No. 8. — Infant Department in 

No. 10. — Comparison of the two Systems. — Lancaster vs. Pestalozzi. — 

Absurd Conceptions of Pestalozzianism. — Rejection of Lancasterianism 

for Infant Pupils 50 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1829-1832. 
Efforts to abolish the Pay System and establish true Free Schools. — Origin of 
the half-mill Tax. — School Census. — Grant of one-fourth of the Tax asked 
for. — Efforts for the Remainder. — Common Council demands Control. — 
Catholic Orphan Asylum. — Tax granted, and Asylum admitted to par- 
ticipate 54 

XL 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1S32-1S42. 

Final Abolition of the Pay System. — More Primary Departments opened. — 
Primary Schools established. — Assistant Teachers employed. — Course of 



. CONTENTS. ix 

Study extended.— Evening Schools.— Transfer of Schools of Manumission 
Society.— Saturday Normal School.— Trustees' Hall.— Financial Embar- 
rassments. — Application of Catholic Free Schools for Participation in the 
School Fund.— Exciting Controversy.— Governor's Message. — Act of 
April 11, 1842, extends the State System to the City.— Organization of 
the Board of Education Page 59 



XII. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1842-1853. 

■difficulties of the New System.— Great Opposition.— Prejudice.— Contrasts of 

. the two Organizations. — Their radical DifFerence in Principle.— Direct 

^Appeal to the People.— Gradual Development of the Ward Schools.— 

|Teachers.— Amendment to the Act.— Progress of the Public Schools.— 

High School.— Beneficial Eeaction of Ward Schools on Public Schools.— 

Leads to rapid Changes.— Financial Difficulties of the Society.— They 

can establish no new Schools.— Free Academy opened.— Its Effects on 

the System.— New Style of School-houses.— Further Embarrassments of 

the Society.— Interest on Mortgages. — Premonitions of the final Eesult. 

— M'Keon's Report. — Mutual Good-will of the two Bodies.— Successive 

Steps leading to Consolidation.— Act of June 4, 1853.— Final Meeting, and 

Dissolution of the Society. — Summary 68 

XIII. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
1853-1868. 
Beneficial Results of the Consolidation. — Measures of the Board. — Influence 
of the Representatives of the Society. — Depository System. — Extension 
of Normal School System. — Superintendent's Powers increased. — Re- 
building of old School-houses.— General Introduction of Music. — Effects 
of the recent War on Teachers' Salaries. — Other Expenses of the Board. 
— Patriotic Spirit of the Schools, and of the Community they represent. — 
Amendments of the Law. — Increased Powers of the Board.— Present Con- 
stitution of the Board of Education, and of the various local Bodies.. 85 

XIV. 

THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 

Religious teaching in the Dutch Period. — Purposes of the Free School Society 
at its Foundation. — Influence of the Friends. — Voluntary Association of 
fifty Ladies. — Religious Census of Schools.— Special moral Instruction 
ordered in 1819.— Visit of Moffit and Sommerfield in 1820.— Address 
of Moffit. — Non-sectarian Catechism and Scripture Lessons. — Bethel 
Baptist Church, and the Controversy of 1822. — Controversy of 1832, and 
Admission of Orphan Asylums to Participation. — Controversy of 



X CONTEXTS. 

184:0-'42. — Remarkable Excitement. — Expurgation of School-books. — 
Law of 184:2 establishes the Board of Education. — The present Condition 
of the Question Page 96 

XV. 

THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 

Original Purpose of Free School Society. — Special Efforts in 1819 and 1821. — 
Society for the Prevention of Pauperism. — House of Refuge for Juvenile 
Delinquents.— Renewed Efforts of 1828. — Appointment of Mr. Seton as 
Visitor. — His Reports. — Efforts of 1832. — Coercive Measures of the Com- 
mon Council.— Their Failure.— Extra Meeting of 1838.— Its Report.— 
Results. — Five Visitors appointed. — Plan abandoned in 1841.— Relation 
of the Board of Education to the Question. — Industrial Schools. — Truant 
Laws.— DifHculties of the Subject.— Census 116 

XVI. 

ORGANIZATION AND PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 

Number and Classification of Schools. — Primary Schools. — Grammar Schools. 
— Evening Schools. — Normal Schools. — Colored Schools. — Condition 
and Course of Study of each. — College of the City of New York. — 
Teachers. — Their Examination, License, Appointment, Removal, Sal- 
aries. — General Control and Supervision. — Departments of the Clerk 
and Superintendent 131 

XVII. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

School-houses of the Public School Society. — Successive and Recent Improve- 
ments. — Specimens of New Buildings. — Illustrations. — Tlie general Pol- 
icy of the Board as to School-houses 154 

XVIII. 

Laws Relative to Public Instruction in the City op New York. 1G6 

XIX. 

Abstract of School Census of the City op New York, 1867 216 

XX. 

MEMORANDA — CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 

From 1614 to the Establishment of the Board of Education, 1842 222 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 

IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 



SCHOOLS OF NEW AMSTERDAM. 

1614-1664. 

Public Schools in Holland, 1585.— West India Company bound to maintain 
Schools.— Eirst Common School in America. — Adam Eoelandsen.— 
Stuyvesant.— Luyck's Latin School, 1659.— Large number of Schools. 

The settlers of New Amsterdam did not neglect to pro- 
vide for the education of their children. In their native 
land they had themselves been participators in the advan- 
tages of public instruction, furnished by the first system of 
common schools ever established in Europe. The thrift, en- 
ergy, and bravery of the citizens of the little republic were 
early co-ordinated with a wise regard for the cultivation of 
intelligence, and legal enactments sought to protect the state 
from the evils inseparable from an ignorant population. 
" Neither the perils of war, nor the busy pursuit of gain, nor 
the excitement of political strife, ever caused them to neglect 
the duty of educating their offspring. Schools were every- 
where provided, at the public expense, with good school- 
masters to instruct the children of all classes in the usual 
branches of education."^ 

"With the same forethought, the national authorities bound 
the West India Company to maintain, in their distant colony 
in the wilderness of New Netherlands, " good and fit preach- 
ers, school-masters^ and comforters of the sick ;" all of which 

' Broadhead. 



12 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

functions seem at first to have been exercised by the same 
individual. The exact date of the establishment of the first 
school on this island can not now be definitely ascertained ; 
but enough is known respecting it from the official records of 
the town to warrant the assertion that it had the honor of be- 
ing the first on the continent of America which was main- 
tained at the public expense, and was open to the children 
of all classes of society. It is true that, like the schools at 
home, it was under the direction of the Established Church ; 
no people having yet advanced so far in their conceptions of 
religious liberty and mutual right as to place the public sec- 
ular instruction of youth under the control of the civil au- 
thorities alone. 

As the Government bound the Company, so they, in their 
turn, obliged the patroons to support, in their several agricul- 
tural colonies, a minister and a school-master. It was not till 
1633, even in New Amsterdam itself, that the two offices 
were practically separated ; but at this date, and with the ad- 
vent of Wouter Von Twiller as governor, we find that Dom- 
inie Bogardus is the officiating minister, while Adam Eoe- 
LANDSEN is at the same time mentioned as the school-master — 
the first of that long line of instructors steadily increasing in 
numbers, and now amounting, in the public and private 
schools of the city, to over four thousand persons. 

The school was long without a permanent home, being 
kept in such premises as could from time to time be obtain- 
ed. The first efforts to build a school-house were made in 
1642; but the financial difficulties of the colony were so 
pressing that the funds collected were again and again di- 
verted to other uses, chiefly to defense against the Indians, so 
that the building was probably not erected till after the En- 
glish occupation. Small private schools were also early es- 
tablished for the children of the more wealthy portion of the 
community, but, even in these, no one could teach without a 
license from the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. 

The range of study must have been very limited, as ap- 
pears from a remonstrance from the colonists to the Govern- 



SCHOOLS OF NEW AMSTERDAM. 13 

ment in consequence of their regularity of the school, espe- 
cially of one interregnum of three months. They demanded 
that the school should have at least two good masters, and 
that there should not only be instruction in reading and 
writing, but also in the religious doctrines of the Church — 
an early indication that sectarian had a natural tendency 
to separate itself from secular instruction, and can only be 
kept in combination with it by making the minister the 
school-master, or the school-master the minister. As to other 
subjects of study, the simplest forms of arithmetic and the 
keeping of accounts were not taught to youth till the next 
century, geography not being added till within the last eighty 
years. 

The interest manifested in the schools by Stuyvesant, the 
last Dutch governor, seems to have increased their number 
throughout the colony. At the close of his administration 
there were, in New Amsterdam alone, three public schools 
and a dozen or more private schools, besides a Latin school 
of such high reputation that pupils were sent to it from Fort 
Orange, from the Delaware, and even from Virginia. So 
great an attention to education is certainly very creditable for 
a town numbering at the most only some fifteen hundred in- 
habitants, struggling with the privations of a distant colony, 
and surrounded by a generally hostile Indian population 
which still roamed over nearly all of the island, and in times 
of peace were found in the streets of the settlement itself^ 

The school first established as the Public School is still in 
existence. It is known as the " School of the Reformed Prot- 
estant Dutch Church," its peculiar public character and sup- 
port terminating with the Dutch Government. Fully partici- 
pating in the advanced views of our time, it is yet in good 
and thriving condition, and seems likely long to continue, as 

* In 1658, the schout, or sheriff, Nicasius D'Sill, complains of the trouble 
he has had with the " shouting of the Indians," at the same time venting his 
wrath upon the boys of the town, who, by " cutting of hoe.kies," caused him 
much annoyance. Many juvenile Manhattanese of other than Dutch extrac- 
tion still keep up the ancient custom, and play "/iooie^" as in times of yore. — 
Valentine. 



14 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

probably the oldest educational institution in the United 
States. A few years since, on the occasion of the transfer of 
the school to its present commodious building, its principal 
prepared a sketch of its history, from which the greater part 
of this and the following section has been compiled.' 

' History of the School of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, by 11. W. 
Diinshee. 



SCHOOLS DUKING THE ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD. 15 



11. 

SCHOOLS DURING THE ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD. 

1664— irre. 

Schools remain Dutch.— Lord Cornbmy's efforts to anglicize them. — Trinity- 
School, 1710. — Effects of Immigration. — King's School, 1754. — Struggle 
of the Dutch for their Language. — Whelp imported from Holland, 1755. 
— Revolution closes all Schools. 

During the century following the transfer of the colony 
to the Eno-lish, education received but little attention from 
the Government. The great majority of the people were 
Dutch. The tide- waves of immigration that were to set in 
from the British islands had, as yet, scarcely begun to move ; 
Dutch customs and the Dutch language long prevailed, and 
were but slowly supplanted or modified by the national pe- 
culiarities of the new-comers. A glance at the names of 
those who were associated with the English governor in the 
conduct of public affairs shows that wealth, power, and in- 
fluence continued to be held by the descendants of the orig- 
inal settlers of New Amsterdam. Their churches and schools 
went on in the old way, though receiving no governmental 
support, except that the excellent Latin school of Luyck, es- 
tablished in 1659, was continued by the English authorities 
for eight years longer. 

By the terms of the surrender the people were guarantied 
." liberty of consciences in their divine worshij) and Church 
discipline, with all their accustomed jurisdiction with respect 
to the poor, and orphans ;" the last phrase being understood 
to involve the care of the Church schools. This was made 
more definite by the charter granted by William III., who 
naturally favored the Dutch settlers, in which it is expressly 
stated that " Our will and pleasure further is, and we do 



•» 



16 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

hereby declare that the ministers of said Church, for the 
time being, shall and may, by and with the consent of the 
elders and deacons of said Church, for the time being, nom- 
inate and appoint a school-master, and such other under-offi- 
cers as they shall stand in need of." Notwithstanding this, 
several of the English governors, whether actuated by zeal 
for the English Church, or by the enlightened policy of 
gradually securing uniformity of language and greater ho- 
mogeneity of the people, endeavored to break up the distinct- 
ive Dutch schools throughout the province. Lord Cornbury 
even " claiming the direct appointment of the school-master." 
Though partly successful on Long Island, through the se- 
vere measures used to effect his object, yet the resolute front 
presented by the sturdy Dutch burghers of New York thor- 
oughly defeated his plans in the city, and secured for a while 
longer a continuance of the old customs, 

Meanwhile new schools were established by immigrants 
from Great Britian and the neighboring colonies. In 1710 
the school still existing under the name of Trinity School 
was opened by William Huddlestone, under the direction 
of a society connected with the English Church. A few 
years previous to this a free Grammar School had been 
founded and built on the King's Farm ; an Episcopal mis- 
sionary, "William Vesey, had opened a school for blacks, and 
numerous additional private schools had been established 
under English or Dutch masters. 

But a power mightier than a governor's edicts was soon 
to be at work, slowly gathering a force that would in a 
few more years overcome all the resistance of the conserva- 
tives. The great immigration was about to begin. As late 
as the census ordered in 1754 at the outbreak of the French 
and Indian War, the population of the entire province was 
less than 97,000, the English settlements being chiefly on 
Long Island and along the river. ^ Within little more than 

' The population was distributed in a way that now seems very singular. 
The City and County of New York returned 10,768 whites and 2272 blacks ; 
while the City and County of Albany reports 14,805 whites, and 2619 blacks ; 



•» 



SCHOOLS DURING THE ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD. 17 

forty years after this the population of the city alone had 
advanced from thirteen thousand to more than sixty thou- 
sand, or nearly fivefold ; while its cosmopolitan character was 
already indicated in the many dialects of English, Welsh, 
Irish, Scotch, and Dutch spoken in its streets, and greatly 
impairing the purity of the English tongue that was finally 
. .to prevail. In the opinion of Smith, the historian, " the 

M language was hopelessly corrupt," there was no uniform 

F standard as in the New England colonies, the schools were 

in general badly conducted, and good and competent instruct- 
ors were only to be found in the private employ of those 
families whose hereditary wealth enabled them to secure the 
best advantages for their children. 

The year 1754 also claims notice in the educational histo- 
ry of the city for the establishment of King's College — the 
Columbia College of post-Revolutionary times. Its charter 
was granted by Governor James Delancy, previous to which 
acts had been passed authorizing lotteries to raise money 
for its establishment.' Till nearly the close of the century it 
had to struggle for its existence, one of its first difiiculties 
having been a controversy as to the character of the special 
religious influence which should control it, finally termina- 
ting in the adoption of the forms of the English Episcopal 
Church. 

Meanwhile the Dutch battled vigorously against the ex- 
tinction of the language and customs of their fathers. As 
late as 1755 the Consistory of their Church sent expressly to 
Holland and imported a genuine Dutch school-master and 
chorister, one John Nicholas Whelj), who, for what was then 
thought the generous salary of two hundred dollars a year, 
the use of a small house and garden, and the payment of the 
expenses of his voyage, was induced to bring out with him 
his wife and family, and continued to serve acceptably until 
his death in 1773. But they were fighting the irresistible. 

I total population of the province, OG, 7G5. — From census of 1754, as quoted in 

^ "MitclielPs Neiv York in 1807." 

_^ ' Mitchell. 



18 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION, 

Even before the end of Whelp's time English seems to have 
been introduced into the school itself The Church had al- 
ready in 1764, just a century after the transfer of the province, 
been forced reluctantly to alternate its Dutch services with 
one in the English tongue. This change had been wrought 
against the most strenuous opposition, but was finally acknowl- 
edged necessary, to prevent the young people from abandon- 
ing the religious connections of their fathers. The necessity 
was quite as great for the further continuance of the school ; 
and the successor of Whelp, appointed in 1773, was expressl}- 
directed " not only to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
but to instruct the children in the English as well as in the 
Dutch lan2:uage."' 

But the fierce excitements of the Revolutionary period 
were already upon them. The city was the scene of some of 

' In the memoir read by Judge Benson before the New York Historical So- 
ciety in 18 IG occurs tlie following passage, which is worth preserving ; " There 
was a day always kept here by the Dutch, and the keeping of it delegated by 
the mothers to their daugliters still at school — Vrowen Dagh (Woman's Day), 
the same with the Valentine's Day of the English, and although diflferently, 
still, perhaps, not less salutarily kept. Every mother's daughter, furnished 
with a piece of cord, the size neither too large nor too small ; the twist neither 
too hard nor too loose ; a turn round the hand, and then a sufficient length 
left to serve as a lash ; not fair to have a knot at the end of it, but fair to 
practice for a few days to acquire the sleight ; the law held otherwise, dueling. 
On the morning of the day, the youngster never venturing to turn a corner 
without first listening whether no warblers were behind it, no golden apples to 
divert him from the direct course in this race. Schoolboy Ilippomenes espied, 
pursued by charmer Atalanta : he, encumbered with his satchel, still striving 
to outrun, and, to add to his speed, bending forward, thereby giving the requi- 
site roundness to the space between the shoulders ; she, too swift afoot for 
him, and overtaking him, and three or four strokes briskly and smartly laid on ; 
lie, to avoid a further repetition, stopping and turning ; she looking him stead- 
fast in tlie eye, and perceiving it required all the man in him to keep back the 
tear ; not all the fruit in all the orchards of the Ilespcrides, and in their best 
bearing year, to compensate for the exultation of the little heart for the mo- 
ment. 

"The boys requested that the next clay should be theirs, and be called 
Mannen Dagh (Man's Day) ; but my masters were told, the law would thereby 
defeat its own very purpose, which was, that they should, at an age and in 
a way most likely never to forget it, receive the lesson of manliness ; — he is 
never to strike." — Quoted in Dunshee. 



SCHOOLS DURING THE ENGLISH COLONIAL PERIOD. 19 

the most memorable events of its early stages. " Here the 
Provincial Congress met in 1765, and passed the famous Dec- 
laration of Rights. Here the stamped paper had been de- 
stroyed, and the lieutenant-governor hung in eflQgy, The 
assembly had refused to provide quarters and provisions for 
such troops as England wished to march into the colony, 
and, on the arrival of a cargo of tea in 1773, the Sons of 
Liberty destroyed it. These and other like measures, when 
the crisis arrived, led to the early subjugation of the city, 
which, as the head-quarters of the British army, was under 
martial law. Many of the citizens fled, all the churches and 
schools were closed, and naught was heard save the accidents 
of war.'" 

' Diinshcc. 



20 IlISTOKY or PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



HI. 

FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1776-1805. 

City (luring the Revolutionary War. — Governor Clinton.— Act of 1795. — 
Rise of Benevolent Societies. — Educational Societies. — Manumission 
Society, 1785. — Female Association, 1802. — Teachers' Association. — 
Common School Fund established. 

During the seven years that New York was the head- 
quarters of the British army, the schools and the college re- 
mained closed. The business of the city was annihilated, no 
other portion of the country being so long and so complete- 
ly isolated and cut off from all commercial relations with the 
rest. To add to the poverty and distress incidental to such a 
state of affairs, the two disastrous fires of July, 1776, and Au- 
gust, 1778, swept away a large part of the dwellings and 
stores, and there were neither means nor inducements to re- 
build them. The school history of the period is a complete- 
blank. 

But the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781 assured the peo- 
ple that their redemption was at hand. Before the signing 
of the Treaty of Paris many of the inhabitants had already 
returned ; while four days previous to that event, and months 
before the evacuation of the city in November, 1783, the 
school of the Dutch Church was already opened. It had lost 
not only its distinctive language, but even its ancient name 
of "free" or "public" school, which was thenceforth ex- 
changed for the term " Charity School," received in common 
with all schools supported by the voluntary contributions of 
religious societies. 

Though the condition of education was one of the first 
subjects to claim and arrest public attention, no definite ac- 



BEFORE THE FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY, 21 

tion was taken bj the Legislature till 1795. Previous to 
this, the subject of public instruction had been frequently dis- 
cussed in the public journals, in the pulpits, and in popular 
assemblages, and its paramount importance to the future sta- 
bility and prosperity of the young republic felt and acknowl- 
edged. Under this growing interest, the leading schools 
had so far recovered from their previous prostration as to re- 
ceive commendatory notice from the governor in his annual 
message of 1792 : " As the diffusion of knowledge is essen- 
tial to the promotion of virtue and the preservation of liber- 
ty, the flourishing condition of our seminaries of learning 
must prove highly satisfactory ; and they will, I am persua- 
ded, be among the first objects of your care and patronage, 
and receive, from time to time, such further aid and en- 
couragement as may be necessary for their increasing pros- 
perity." 

In 1795, he distinctly recommended the " establishment 
of Common Schools throughout the state," and, from his lan- 
guage, we may infer that the subject had already been intro- 
duced into the deliberations of the Legislature : " While it is 
evident that the general establishment and liberal endow- 
ment of academies are highly to be commended, and are at- 
tended by the most beneficial consequences, yet it can not be 
denied that they are principally confined to the children of 
the opulent, and that a great proportion of the community 
is excluded from their immediate advantages. The establish- 
ment of Common Schools throughout the state is happily 
calculated to remedy this inconvenience, and will, therefore, 
re-engage your early and decided consideration." 

Pursuant to this recommendation, the Legislature passed, 
April 9, 1795, "An Act for the encouragement of Schools," 
which approjDriated $50,000 a year for five years, "for the 
purpose of encouraging and maintaining schools in the sever- 
al cities and towns i^ this state, in which the children of the 
inhabitants residing in this state shall be instructed in the 
English language, or be taught English grammar, arithmetic, 
mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge as are 



22 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

most useful and necessary to complete a good English edu- 
cation.' 

Until toward tlie close of the eigliteentli century, efforts 
for the establishment of systems of public instruction so as to 
benefit the masses of society by the blessings of education, 
had been chiefly the work of individuals. About this period, 
both in this country and in Great Britain, a memorable 
change took place in the nature and method of these efforts, 
and in the efiiciency of the means adopted to render them 
successful. Voluntary benevolent and philanthropic associa- 
tions were formed, having for their chief purpose the exten- 
sion of the knowledge of things human and divine among all 
classes of society. Sunday Schools, the work of which was 
at first necessarily directed in a great measure to the instruc- 
tion of neglected children in reading, sprung up and multi- 
plied about the close of the American AVar, and were soon 
introduced into the United States. At no previous period 
had religious and legislative bodies manifested so much of in- 
telligent interest in the advantages and necessity of furnish- 
ing at least an elementary education to the masses of the peo- 
ple. Bell and Lancaster were just entering upon the work 
that was to give so great, and wide spread, and permanent 
an impetus to the cause of popular instruction, by presenting 
a plan rendered practicable by its thorough organization, and 
the comparative smallness of the expenditure involved. Oth- 
er benevolent societies also, for the amelioration of the many 
evils of the social system, appeared in rapid succession. 

Among the earliest of these in this country was an associa- 
tion formed in this city as early as 1785, and soon after in- 
corporated by the Legislature for the purpose of "mitigating 
the evils of slavery, to defend the rights of the blacks, and 
especially to give them the elements of education." This or- 
ganization was known as the Manumission Society, and en- 
rolled among its members a considerable number of persons 
of the highest social standing in the community, including a 

' Gov. George Clinton's Messages for 1792 and 1795, as quoted in tlie vnl- 
uable and comprehensive report of Superintendent Rice. 



FEMALE ASSOCIATIOlSr, 23 

large representation of the Society of Friends. Governor 
Jay was its first President, and its first school was opened in 
1787 in Cliff Street, and numbered about one hundred pupils. 
It seems to have been conducted on the plan usual in mixed, 
or ungraded schools, until after the introduction of the Lan- 
casterian system. There were then in the city about 4000 
colored persons, more than half of whom were returned as 
slaves by the census of 1805.' Several schools were estab- 
lished and maintained by this society, and subjected to fre- 
quent and vigilant inspection by its ofiicers and members, 
the funds being supplied by voluntary contributions. The 
schools were continued, in a state of greater or less efficiency, 
through a period of about forty years, when, upon the solicita- 
tion of the Society itself, the Legislature of 1834 authorized 
the transfer of the schools and their considerable real estate 
to the Public School Society ; and these are now the Colored 
Schools of the Board of Education. 

' In 1802 a school for white girls was opened by a Socie- 
ty known as the " Female Association for the relief of the 
Poor," which had been established some years previously, 
and consisted of benevolent ladies connected with the Society 
of Friends, popularly known as Quakers. " It was the orig- 
inal promoter of Free Schools in the city of New York," and 
so it extended its influence as at one time to have several 
large elementary schools under its direction and control, the 
last of which was extinguished in 1846 in consequence of 
their loss of further state and municipal aid. Besides the 
other permanent good wrought by this vigorous association 
during the half-century of its existence, it is definitely known 
and acknowledged that it was the success and advice of these 
ladies which induced a number of gentlemen, connected 
with them by domestic and social relations, to attempt the 
same kind offices for the neglected boys of the city, thus 
leading to the establishment of the " Free School Society," 
which afterward became the Public School Society of the 
City of New York. 

1 «'\Yhites, 71,762; free colored, 19G0; slaves, 20iSr'— Census o/1805. 



2-1 HISTOllY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Private schools also Lad largely increased in numbers 
with the increasing population of the city/ At least as early 
as 1798 a Teachers' Association ^was in existence, its meet- 
ings being held at Federal Hall every Saturday evening. 
The President for 1798 was Mr. John Woods, and for 1799, 
Mr. John Campbell.'' In 1805 there were in the city 141 
teachers, 106 of whom were males, and 35 females, including 
those of the Church schools, supported by the Dutch Eeformed, 
Episcopal, Presb}' terian, and Koman Catholic denominations, 
the last of these having the largest, numbering about 100 in 
attendance.' The schools of the Orphan Asylums were not 
yet in existence ; the New York Orphan Asylum, the first 
established of these, and the oldest one in the United States 
not being organized till the following year, 1806.^ 

This was the general condition of school affairs at the be- 
ginning of the new and important era of 1805, a year render- 
ed memorable in our local educational history by the law 
first establishing the Common School Fund of the State, and 
by the act of incorporation of the Free School Society of the 
City of New York. 

' "There are many private <5chools, but these are not gener!\lly under as 
good rcguhitions as in Counecticut and other New England States." 

The poinil.itwn in 1T5G was 10.8:^1. 1 The jv.pulation iu ITOl was SrstOl. 
"• •' 17T1 " iKSOa. I '• '*• ISOl " 60,S49. 

" '• 17S(> " 23,014. I " " ISOS " 75,770. 

Lonfficorth^s Directory for 1S05. 

-Directory 170S, 1709. Mbid. 1805. 

* This year is further marked by the first course of scientific and popular 
lectures ever given in the city of New York. They were by Professor John 
Grisconi, and were well attended. 



ORIGIN OF THE FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 25 



IV. 

ORIGIN AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1805. 

Free School Society. — Its Origin and Purpose. — Memorial of 180.5.— Lengtliy 

Title. — Lancaster. 

The Free School Society was founded in 1805. The re- 
sults that have flowed from the successive stages of its prog- 
ress have had so marked and lasting an influence on the 
condition of public instruction in the great city of the conti- 
nent, that the history of its origin and development contains 
much matter of permanent interest. From the humblest 
beginnings, it gradually extended the field and advanced the 
character of its operations, until in the direction of the edu- 
cational interests of the masses of a vast community, it held 
a trust such as probably never before was confided to a body 
of private citizens. 

The original purpose of the Society was strictly charitable. 
The one hundred and forty-one teachers of the city were all 
engaged in private schools, excepting tlie few who were em- 
ployed in the parochial charity schools of the several church- 
es, in those of the Manumission Society, and in the school for 
poor white girls which was supported by the Female Asso- 
ciation. There yet remained a large number of children not 
connected with any religious body and attending no school, 
their parents being either too poor or too indiflx3rent to their 
interests to afford them even the simplest rudiments of an 
education. The condition of these children, and the final ef- 
fects of their ignorance upon the community, had long been 
a subject of consideration among the philanthropic. 

The success of the school of the Female Association show- 
ed the feasibility of organizing a similar society on a broader 



26 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION". 

basis for the benefit of the neglected poor. An incidental con- 
versation between two or three individuals, one of them for 
many subsequent years the vice-president of the society,' led 
to the call of a private and informal meeting of citizens of in- 
fluence, and without respect to denominational lines, who 
would be likely to favor such an enterprise. Twelve attended. 
A committee was appointed to mature a plan and call a larger 
and more formal meeting, which, convening a few days later, 
passed a resolution to memorialize the Legislature for a char- 
ter. The memorial was signed by about one hundred citi- 
zens, whose high social position and influence, diversity of 
religious views and connections, and unanimity in philan- 
thropic effort, gave promise of wide usefulness to the pro- 
posed society. The memorialists urged the importance of 
their subject, " and the multiplied evils daily resulting from 
the neglected education of the children of the poor. They al- 
luded more particularly to that description of children who 
do not belong to, or are not provided for by any religious so- 
ciety, and who therefore do not partake of the advantages 
arising from the different charity schools established by the 
various religious societies in this city.'''' 

In response to the memorial, the Legislature promptly 
passed an act of incorporation on the 9th of April, 1805, 
the lengthy title of the Society defining at the same time its 
field of usefulness — " The Society for Establishing a Free 
School in the City of New York, for the Education of such 
poor Children as do not belong to or are not provided for by 
any Eeligious Society." The list of names mentioned in the 
act begins with De Witt Clinton, and ends with Dr. Samuel 
L. Mitchell, and includes a representation of the best ele- 
ments of the old English, Dutch, and other families. The 
same instrument appointed thirteen trustees for the 3'ear 
1805, who elected Clinton president. Besides those thus 
mentioned by name, the ma3^or, recorder, aldermen, and as- 
sistant aldermen were declared ex-officio members of the So- 
ciety, which was also open to any citizen upon his subscri- 

' John Murray, Esq. * Memorial, Feb. 25, 1805. 



ORIGIN OF THE FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 27 

bing and contributing eight dollars for the benefit of the 
Society. At an annual meeting in May a report was to be 
rendered by its thirteen trustees, and a new board elected. 

On the 5th of May, and immediately after their organiza- 
tion, the trustees published an address to their fellow-citizens, 
setting forth the nature of their enterprise, and appealing " to 
the affluent and charitable Christians of all denominations" 
for the necessary assistance. A full year was spent in rais- 
ing money enough to make a practical beginning by opening 
a school.^ During the interval, a member of the society be- 
ing in England, had visited the school opened by Joseph Lan- 
caster in the Borough Road, near London, in 1801, and was so 
impressed with the advantages of Lancaster's plan for giving 
elementary instruction to large masses at a small expense, 
that he urged and procured its adoption in the new enter- 
prise. 

This famous system, then entirely new, was drawing great 
attention in England, and finally spread over a large part of 
Europe and this country. Li the brief space of three or four 
years its claims had been so widely and so energetically ad- 
vocated, that thousands of intelligent men believed that a 
final and immediate remedy had been found for the evils of 
popular ignorance, and that the era of universal intelligence 
had begun,^ A plan by which it was claimed that five hun- 

^ The original subscription-book, with the names of the donors, may be found 
in the archives of the Historical Society. 

- The following extracts will show the extent of this delusion : De Witt 
Clinton, in a speech on opening the enlarged free school at New York, 1810, 
savs : " I confess that I recognize in Lancaster the benefiictor of the human 
race. I consider his system as creating a new era in education, as a blessing 
sent down from heaven to redeem the poor and distressed of this world from 
the power and dominion of ignorance. 

Again, in his message as governor to the Legislature of New York in 1818, 
he says : " Having participated in the first establishment of the Lancasterian 
System in this country; having carefully observed its progress and witnessed its 
benefits, I can confidently recommend it as an invaluable improvement, which, 
by wonderful combination of economy in expense and rapidity of instruction, 
has created a new era in education. The system operates with the same 
eflBcacy in education as labor-saving machinery does in the useful arts." 



28 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

dred or a thousand children could be profitably instructed 
under the care of a single teacher, with no assistance except 
what should be rendered by the children themselves, might 
well fill with hope all that wished well to their race. 

President Nott, in an address to the students of Union College, July 11, 
1811, exclaims: "Where is Lancaster, who has introduced, and is introduc- 
ing a new era in education ?" etc. John Adams writes to a friend in Cam- 
bridge, "I have heard friend Lancaster with pleasure; he is an excellent 
scholastic and academic disciplinarian. I was really delighted and enlighten- 
ed hv that lecture." — From Baniards Am. Journal, 1861. 



FEEE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 29 



V. 

FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1805-1SS4. 

Fii-it School.— Its Removals.— New Charter, 1808.— No. 2.— Effects of the 
War! — No. 3. — Apprentices. — Mr. Picton, of No, 4. — Arrival of Lancas- 
ter. — Separate Departments for Sexes. — Manual. — First Vacation. — Con- 
troversy with Baptists and others. — No. 5. — Pupils not restricted to special 
Districts. 

The Society took prompt measures to put the new plan 
into operation. "Happily a teacher^ who bad already adopted 
it witli success, and who in other respects was well qualified 
for the undertaking, was found. Under his superintendence, 
therefore, the school was first opened on the 17th of May, 
1806, in a small apartment (in the old Mission House) in 
Bancker Street — now Madison Street — near Pearl, Its ap- 
pearance was in every respect as humble as were the unhap- 
py objects whose improvement in it was contemplated."* 

The school was at once a success. The little room was 
soon overcrowded, its numbers reaching sixty-seven. A new 
enterprise, and in such energetic and benevolent hands, it 
wanted neither visitors nor friends. Contributions in money, 
cloth, stockings, shoes, and hats were freely given for the 
physical comfort of the needy pupils, and Colonel Henry 
Eutgers, afterward the second President of the Society, do- 
nated a valuable lot of ground in Henry Street as a site for 
the school-house. 

"Having, however, fully ascertained that an entire reli- 
ance on the benevolence of individuals for the support of the 

• Mr. William Smith. 

^ "An Account of the New York Free School," published by Collins & Per- 
kins, 1807, 



30 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

institution would not place the funds in a condition to meet 
the expenses which must necessarily arise, the trustees nat- 
urally turned their attention to those sources whence ade- 
quate assistance could alone be expected. The Corporation, 
as guardians of the city, and especially of that part of it which 
the views of this society particularly embrace, were early ad- 
dressed with a memorial soliciting their assistance. In con- 
sequence of this representation, a committee from that body 
visited the school, who appeared fully convinced of the use- 
fulness of the establishment ; and the result was an appropria- 
tion of the workshop adjacent to the almshouse for the tem- 
porary accommodation of the school, and the sum of five 
hundred dollars toward putting it in repair; the Society 
agreeing to receive and educate fifty children from the alms- 
house.'" 

In April, 1807, the school was removed to the new quar- 
ters, its number soon increasing to one hundred and fifty, in- 
cluding the fifty pauper children, the limit of accommodation 
being about two hundred. Application for assistance was 
meanwhile made to the Legislature, resulting in a grant of 
four thousand dollars toward erecting a building and an ad- 
ditional thousand dollars each year, all from the excise funds 
of the city, " until aid could be regularly afforded from the 
interest of the School Fund of the state."^ 

In a very short time the new quarters also became too 
strait for the expanding school, and sufficient funds for a new 
building of proper size not having yet been accumulated, the 
Society again applied to the Corporation for assistance, and 
received the liberal gift of the building known as the " Old 
Arsenal," conveniently situated on Chambers Street and Try- 
on Eow. The property was valued at ten thousand dollars, 
and was accompanied by the sum of fifteen hundred dollars 
in money, to assist in preparing the building for a school. 
The condition attending this liberal grant was that the Socie- 
ty should educate all the children of the almshouse. Exten- 

' iSecond Annual Report, May 4, 1807. 

' Report of the Legislative Committee, Mr. Clinton, chairman. 



FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 31 

sive changes were made in the building, costing about $13,000, 
and providing not only a school-room for five hundred pu- 
pils, but also apartments for the use of the Board and for the 
teacher's family. 

While these changes were in progress, the Society had 
again applied to the Legislature for an extension of their pow- 
ers, and a new charter, granted in April, 1808, changed their 
title from " the Society for Establishing a Free School," to 
" the Free School Society of the City of New York." In De- 
cember, 1809, the new school building, long known as No. 1, 
was opened with interesting ceremonies, the President, Mr, 
Clinton, delivering an appropriate address. 

A site having already been provided by the munificence 
of Colonel Rutgers, the Society again raised some $13,000 
by subscription from the citizens, and on the J3th of Novem- 
ber, 1811, school-house No. 2 was opened, having cost about 
$11,000. The same year the Society received a donation 
from the Corporation of Trinity Church of several lots on 
Christopher Street, and a further grant of $4000 from the Leg- 
islature, with an annuity of $500 during its pleasure, the num- 
ber of trustees being at the same time increased to nineteen. 

The war with Great Britain, 1812-'15, greatly interfered 
with the prosperity and growth of the city, and the Society, 
while contriving to keep open its schools, was not able to 
increase their number. In 1815, $3708.14 was oppor- 
tunely received, being the quota of the School Fund under 
its first apportionment. With the return of prosperity, and 
the vast increase of immigration after the war, the operations 
of the Society began again to expand. Among other meas- 
ures, and in order to secure the utmost efficiency in the inter- 
nal management of their schools, a committee was appointed 
to obtain from England, and through the agency of the British 
and Foreign School Society — the very centre and fountain- 
head of improved Lancasterianism — a person completely com- 
petent to teach the system in its most perfect form. A sal- 
ary of eight hundred dollars was offered, together with tlie ex- 
penses of the passage. 



32 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Some months before the arrival of the expected model*^ 
teacher, Mr. Shepard Johnson, a young man who had re- 
ceived his entire education in the schools of the Society, and 
had passed through the successive stages of monitorship with 
great credit, was sent to Philadelphia at the expense of the 
Society to inspect the results of the monitorial system in that 
city, into which it had been introduced soon after the first 
experiments in New York. Upon his return he was ap- 
pointed to take charge of School No. 8, which was first open- 
ed in May, 1818, in a public building on the corner of Amos 
and Hudson Streets, the nse of certain rooms having been 
granted by the Corporation. Mr. Johnson was the first of 
the thousands of teachers who have been educated in the 
public schools of the city, and continued for many years in 
the employ of the Society, and was of great service not only 
in his own school, but in assisting and directing at the or- 
ganization of other new schools intrusted to parties of less ex- 
perience. 

So well satisfied were the trustees with the results in Mr. 
Johnson's case, that about the time of his appointment in 
1818, they introduced a plan for the regular training of fu- 
ture teachers, it being a peculiar feature of the system to have 
but one teacher to each department, however large. Three 
of the most promising lads, one for each school, were selected 
from the monitors-general and apprenticed to the Society. 
They were to be boarded and clothed, to reside, if possible, 
with their principals, and at the end of three years' satisfactory 
service were to receive one hundred dollars each. The ex- 
periment was never renewed, it being supposed that as good 
results to the system could be attained in another way. The 
expense, about two hundred dollars each per year, was thought 
so great that means were found to terminate the engagements, 
and monitors-general were supplied at the rate of fifty cents a 
week.' 

In 1818, Mr. Charles Picton, the expected teacher, arrived 

" One of these three lads is still connected with the city schools, being the 
Principal of a highly-snccessfiil Ward School in the upper part of the city. 



FKEE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 33 

from England, bringing with liim a supply of slates and 
books, and other school material, for the use of the Society. 
He was appointed to take charge of a new school, No. 4, then 
in process of erection in Eivington Street, and which was 
opened on the 1st of May, 1819, Mr. Picton being employed 
in the interval by permission of the Board, and at the same 
salary, in reorganizing, on the Lancasterian system, the paro- 
chial school of St. Peter's Church in Barclay Street. 

No. 4 was the first school-house specially constructed with 
separate departments for boys and girls.^ No. 1 had no girls, 
they being taught by the Female Association. No. 2 had a few 
girls, but in 1818 it was stated in a hand-bill circulated in that 
neighborhood by order of the Society that the teacher was 
, forbidden to admit any more, those already enrolled being 
transferred to the schools of the Female Association as fast as 
boys, who were specially invited, could be found to take the 
vacated places. On the organization of No. 3 in its tempo- 
rary quarters, it was found impossible to exclude the girls en- 
tirely, as the Female Association had no school in that vicin- 
ity. They had no separate department till the completion of 
the new building on the corner of Grove and Hudson Streets, 
in 1821. In No. 4, Mrs. Picton was appointed teacher of the 
Female Department, at a salary of three hundred dollars, her 
husband receiving eight hundred dollars for the Boys' Depart- 
ment, with two hundred dollars additional for house-rent, the 
teachers of the other schools living in the school buildings. 
In order to obtain the greatest possible benefit from his train- 
ing and experience, Mr. Picton, of whom great things were ev- 
idently expected, was entirely emancipated from the by-laws 

* In the Minutes of the Trustees for 1820, No. 4 is referred to as " the only 
school having an exclusively girls' department;" and the gentlemen being evi- 
dently puzzled with so delicate a novelty, the ladies of the Female Association 
were solicited to appoint a committee for an occasional visit of inspection, and 
to report; but they declined "for want of time," but more probably because 
this new department was an incursion into their own special field, which had 
hitherto steadily expanded. Commencing with a mere handful, in 1817 they 
had three schools and 400 girls; in 1819, 600 " little girls;" and in 1820, 700 
girls ; the register -of the Free Schools being at the same date 2589, of whom, 
by far the greater part were boys. 

c 



S4: HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

and Manual, and directed " to conduct his school in any way he 
thought fit until further orders from the trustees." 

In December, 1818, Mr. Lancaster himself arrived in New 
York, being on a visit to the cities of America for the purpose 
of advocating the advantages of his system, which he found 
already established, not only in the schools of the Free School 
Society, but also in those of the Manumission Society, the Fe- 
male Association, and in the Dutch Eeformed, Catholic, and 
some other parochial schools. He met with a warm welcome 
from De Witt Clinton and other prominent citizens, and his 
lectures, given in one of the school-rooms of the Society, were 
well attended, and did much to strengthen the hands of the 
friends of public instruction. A new energy seems to have 
been infused into the Society itself The teachers were direct- 
ed to compile a new manual of the system as practiced in the 
schools, in which work they were assisted by the teachers of 
the Manumission Society.' It was published in 1820, and was 
accompanied with a historical sketch. 

The plan of separate departments for the sexes was carried 
out, small libraries, consisting chiefly of works on history, 
voyages, and travels were introduced into each school, and 
an address to parents was widely circulated, urgently solicit- 
ing their assistance in securing the regular attendance of their 
children both at the schools of the Society and at the various 
Sabbath Schools, and abounding with advice as to their relig- 
ious, moral, and sanitary training, and the effects of parental 
example. At the same time the Board memorialized the 
Legislature for assistance in finishing the new school build- 
ing, No. 4, laying great stress upon the effects of the rapid 
immigration which had again set in from Europe, consisting, 
to a great extent, of those whose means did not enable them 
to pay for the education of their children." The annual ex- 

' Each of the compilers was remunerated with a gift of twenty-five copies of 
the Manual, wliich, as tlie minutes of the Society itself soon pronounce the 
book unsalable even at 75 cents, was rather light pay for the embodiment of 
so much of personal experience and labor. 

-They asked for $10,000, but received only $r)000 ; but their funds were 
further increased by an act in relation to lotteiics, directing that the S-'50O to 



FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 85 

aminations, wliich up to this time had been simultaneously 
conducted in all the schools, were now changed into a more 
formal visit of the whole Board, with their invited guests, to 
each school in succession, with a systematic record of the re- 
sults in the minutes. The citizens generally were also invited 
to visit and inspect the schools, and an invitation was extend- 
ed to all who were disposed to do so to come in and " learn 
the system " with a view to teaching it elsewhere. 

In August, 1820, at the united request of the teachers, the 
first vacation, extending through three weeks, was granted, 
and continued to be given annually by resolution for several 
years before becoming an established part of the by-laws. 

The year 1821 was marked by no event of importance, 
except the opening of the new school-house No. 3, and an 
earnest though unsuccessful effort for a law levying a special 
tax upon the city and county, and raising $5000 a year for 
ten years, for the purpose of building five additional school- 
houses.* The next year, however, is rendered memorable in 
the history of public education in this city, by the opening of 
the first serious controversy in regard to the distribution of 
the school money to religious sectarian schools, a settlement 
not being effected till after much excitement and the lapse of 
two or three years.^ An important step in increasing the 
direct influence exerted by the trustees upon the efl&ciency of 
the several schools was also taken, in the assignment of each 
member of the Board to one of five " sections," one for each 
school-house. No. 5, in Mott Street, having been opened on 
the 28th of October ; and, girls being now admitted in both 

be paid for each license, together with all fines incurred, should be equally di- 
vided between the Free School Society and the new Asylum for Deaf Mutes, 
which had begun with four pupils in 181 7. Four lotteries gave the free schools 
$1000 the first year, and they had $1500 additional from the excise. 

' The city contained at this time about 130,000 inhabitants. Its real estate 
was assessed at $50,619,720, and its personal property at $17,CGG,350: total, 
$68,2SG,070. Total taxes for 1821 were $299,225. It was proposed to add 
one-sixtieth to this amount. 

* This will be considered more at length in the section ou the Keligious 
Question. 



36 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 

No. 1 and No. 2, five committees of ladies were nominated, 
and invited to inspect the several scliools at their discretion, 
and to furnish a quarterly report to the Board of Trustees on 
such points and with such suggestions as they might think 
proper, the sections themselves also reporting quarterly to 
the general Board. For some reason which does not appear 
in the records of the Society, the plan of securing the assist- 
ance and counsel of the ladies does not seem to have been 
successful. The Board also appointed a special committee 
of their own body, to correspond with parties in the United 
States and in Europe, to gather information in regard to ele- 
mentary instruction, and especially in relation to the means 
found most effectual in reaching the children of the poor. 

An important proposition for dividing the city into school 
districts was also reported upon and then debated, it being 
the intention of the advocates of the measure to establish 
definite boundary-lines, restricting the attendance of the pu- 
pils to the school-houses situated in their respective districts. 
The final decision was adverse to the proposition, the uni- 
form policy of the Board being to locate new schools so as 
best to accommodate the steadily increasing population. 
The result of this policy is still to be seen in the present or- 
ganization of the schools of the city, there being neither ward 
nor district lines for pupils, every school being open to all 
citizens, whether residing at the Battery or at Kingsbridge. 



FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 87 



FREE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

18S4-18S6. 

TQo. 6. — Improvement in Character of Attendance. — Visit of La Fayette. — 
Bethel Baptist Church. — Proposition to introduce "Pay Scholars." — San- 
guine Anticipations as to the Results. 

In 1824, the Almshouse having been previously removed 
to Bellevue, the Common Council invited the Society to re- 
sume at that place its care of the pauper children, and a new 
school, No. 6, was opened, being the same that is now loca- 
ted on Kandall's Island. 

Several circumstances conspired at this time, with all 
these active measures, to elevate the general standing of the 
several schools of the Society, and to render them more truly 
the schools of the people. The withdrawal of the large num- 
ber of pauper children from No. 1 had removed the natural 
objection felt by many parents as to sending their children 
to the same school, and the vacated seats were soon filled 
with a better class of pupils. The same was particularly the 
case with No. 2, to which a teacher, who had just previous- 
ly taught a large and successful private school in the same 
vicinity, was about this time appointed, leading to the intro- 
duction of many of the children of his former patrons. No. 
3, in its new building, and under the efficient management 
of Mr, Johnson, was highly popular ; No. 4 was in charge of 
a gentleman whose special training and association with the 
fountain-head of Lancasterianism gave him the advantages 
of a high reputation ; No, 5 had been intrusted to a teacher^ 
whose powers of organization and firm yet gentle character, 

' Mr. Joseph Belden, 



38 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

and skill in teaching penmansbip, soon made him one of the 
most popular of teachers ; while his brother/ who had been 
educated to the medical profession, in a spirit of true, self- 
devoting philanthropy, and for a trifling salary, took charge 
of and lived with the neglected little ones of the city's charge 
at Belle vuc, No. 6, having first " learned the system " for 
that purpose with Mr. Johnson in No. 3. 

The exciting controversy with the Bethel Baptist Church 
and several other Protestant organizations that conjointly 
sought the distribution of the school money to sectarian 
schools, had also done much to attract public attention and 
sympathy to the schools of the Society.^ This was still fur- 
ther developed in a skillful and somewhat dramatic way on 
the occasion of the visit of La Fayette in 182-i. In October 
of that year, after visiting, in company with state and city 
officials and other distinguished citizens, the school No. 3, 
where, besides being presented with a certificate of member- 
ship of the Society, he was addressed by one of the pupils in 
behalf of the five hundred boys and two hundred girls there 
assembled, and listened to a poetic address by a class of girls 
in concert, the illustrious visitor at 2 p.m., and in the presence 
of an immense and delighted multitude, reviewed the chil- 
dren of all the schools of the Society, assembled, to the num- 
ber of three thousand or more, in the City Ilall Park, ofiicer- 
ed by their teachers and monitors, and bearing banners with 
appropriate inscriptions, conspicuous among which was one 
proclaiming "Education the Basis of Free Government.'" 

The popularity and manifest progress of the schools, and 
the principles developed in the discussions incidental to the 
controversy already alluded to, together with a proposition 
received "from a number of middle-class citizens" to be al- 

* Dr. Charles BeUlen, who died, after two years' service, Aug. 5, 1825. 

" See section on the Ileh"p;ious Questions. 

^ A sweet little girl recited an approjn-iate and touching poetic address, con- 
veying, in the name of the children of America, their gratitude to this friend 
and associate of Washington, and ended by gently laying a beautiful floral and 
laurel wreath on the revered head of the nation's guest. The grave and affec- 
tionate kiss bestowed in response on the little spokeswoman touched all hearts. 



FEEE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 39 

lowed to send their cliildren as pupils "for pay," seem about 
this time to have suggested to the trustees the expediency 
and feasibility of essentially changing the character of their or- 
ganization. The grand idea of educatiois" as a right was not 
yet developed except in the minds of a few isolated individ- 
uals. To have their children educated without direct pay- 
ment was by very many felt to be closely akin to acknowl- 
edging themselves paupers ; a notion traces of which, absurd 
as we know it to be in the present condition of things, still 
linger in some benighted minds that can not keep pace with 
the grand march of modern democratic ideas. 

The Society began to consider the possibility and propri- 
ety of converting their schools, excepting No. 6, into pay 
schools, so as to conciliate and attract those who were not 
willing to accept gratuitous instruction for their children, 
placing the rates so low that none need be debarred, at the 
same time retaining their original plan of " no pay " from 
those whose circumstances did not permit any contribution 
whatever. An extensive correspondence with schools abroad 
was immediately opened, and a great amount of testimony 
collected, setting forth the excellent results which had arisen 
from such an arrangement.^ 

A study of this period in the history of the Society is of 
importance, as the irrevocable steps which were finally taken 
led, however reluctantly, yet by an unavoidable necessity, 
through their unexpected results, to broader and juster views 
of the wants, and rights, and mutual relations of all classes 
of society in the matter of education. The results of the 
Bethel Church controversy had thrown all the school money 

' The Irish Schools for the Poor, conducted on the Lancastcrian ])lan, were 
in great part supported by the payment of a penny a week, and siinihir results 
were reported from the British and Foreign School Societj'. The scliools of 
the Female Association had long been successfully conducted on the same 
principle by collecting fi-om each pupil one or two cents a week, and it had 
only been abandoned from the fear of losing, in consequence, their portion of 
the School Fund. The largest school of the Manumission Society also, in the 
same way, had once been nearly able to pay the teacher's salary. — Minutes, 3d 
of March, 1825. 



4:0 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

into their bands excepting what was paid to the " Mechanics' 
Society, the Orphan Asyhim Society, and the Trustees of the 
African Schools." They had also caused a school census of 
the city to be taken, and reported about four hundred pay 
schools of all grades, most of them small and miserably con- 
ducted, and held in poorly -lighted and badly-ventilated apart- 
ments, the expense per scholar being several times as much 
as in the Free Schools. They therefore felt certain that, by 
revising and greatly extending their course of study, and at 
the same time asking a small amount of pay for instruction, 
they would secure the patronage and personal interest of a 
large part of the important class of citizens who supported 
these private schools. As a part of the plan, it was pro- 
posed to consolidate the schools of the Free School Society, 
the Manumission Society, and those of the Female Associa- 
tion, under one organization, which should be known as the 
"Public School Society," and receive the entire amount of 
the school money, and pay over to the Orphan Asylum and 
the Mechanics' Society schools their usual amount per pupil. 
Among the beneficial results anticipated from the scheme 
they especially enumerate " a more truly democratic principle 
in the schools, where the rich and the poor should meet to- 
gether;" "a more general attention to the subject of educa- 
tion by the citizens ; harmony among religious sects ; that 
all citizens would contribute, and be entitled to the benefits ; 
a great increase in the amount expended for public instruction, 
and a greater economy secured by having the disbursements 
all made through the same channel;' a uniform system in all 
elementary schools, and therefore no loss by removals to oth- 
er parts of the city," and more especially, " the cultivation of 
a proper feeling of independence among the poor and labor- 
ing classes." 

' Tliey anticipatcil ii favorable balance of $10,500 even the first year. — 
Minutes, 3(1 of Marcli, 1825. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 41 



VII. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1836-1837. 

Third Charter, and new Title. — Schools become Pay Schools.— Preparations 
for gj;eat Increase of Attendance. — No. 7. — No. 8. — No. 9. — Establish- 
ment of Executive Committee. — Great Extention of Course of Study. — 
Central School. — Application for Assistants refused. 

In furtherance of these views, an application was made 
to tlie Legislature for another alteration of their charter, 
and in January, 1826, they were authorized, under the title 
of The Public School Society, to receive pupils at low 
rates of payment, from twenty-five cents to two dollars per 
quarter — according to the subjects of study pursued. The 
act added fifty members to the Board of Trustees, and the 
premium of membership, which had been raised to fifty dol- 
lars in 1810, was reduced to ten dollars, so as to greatly en- 
large the Society itself, and induce a more general participa- 
tion of the citizens in school affairs, and at the same tune to 
give more facility in filling the increased Board. 

More school buildings were at once provided, so as to ac- 
commodate the expected influx of the new and popular ele- 
ment. The new law went into operation on the 1st of May, 
1826 ; the same day a new building was opened in Chrystie 
' Street, and organized as No. 7, a site for another, to be known 
as No. 8, having been purchased a few days previously in 
Grand Street : this building was pushed with such energy 
that on the 1st of November it was opened for the admission 
of pupils ; two additional sites were also procured in Woos- 
ter and Duane Streets. A few weeks previous to the change 
of the title of the Society, a school situated in a rural district 
of the island, and known as the Bloomingdale School, was 



42 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

transferred to their care, and also on the 1st of May was 
opened as No. 9. This school was accepted somewhat unwil- 
lingly, as its limited numbers,' and the character of its loca- 
tion, indicated that it would long continue small, and pecun- 
iarily unprofitable. It had been opened, and for years chiefly 
sustained by public-spirited and charitable residents of the 
vicinity, and had passed, by a natural process, to the care of 
a neighboring church, St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal. 
The ordinance of the Common Council in 1825^ had deprived 
it of all the public aid it had hitherto received, the funds be- 
ing transferred to the Public School Society. For some 
months it had only been kept from disbanding by the gen- 
erous efforts of a young collegian, who voluntarily devoted 
to it all his spare time. 
A change of the highest order of importance was now 

made in the general management of the affairs of the Board 
in the appointment of an Executive Committee, consisting of 
five trustees elected by ballot, together with the President, 
Vice-president, Secretary, and Treasurer, and the chairman of 
each of the several local sections, " with power to appoint 
teachers and take general charge during the recess of the 
Board of Trustees." This compact and energetic body, com- 
posed of gentlemen of experience, and representing all inter- 
ests, soon became the right hand and working power of the 
Board, its decisions and reports seldom failing to receive the 
prompt approval of that body. 

In the internal affairs of the schools also, changes quite as 
important took place. The pay system was introduced as 
provided by law, and extensive additions made to the course 
of study. Up to this period the subjects taught had been 
simply reading, spelling, writing, mostly on slates, and the 
simple elements of arithmetic; a few only of the more ad- 
vanced pupils being reported as having entered reduction, 
rule of three, and, finally, " practice," which seems to have the 
extreme limit in this branch. To these were now added, after 
due consultation between the teachers and a special commit- 

'■ 2G boys and 22 girls. ' See Religious Question. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 43 

tee, a higher class of reading-books, the more advanced rules 
of Arithmetic, Mensuration, Geography, with the use of maps 
and globes, English Grammar, History, Book-keeping, Astron- 
omy, and Ehetoric/ 

Another evidence of new and enlarged views was the ap- 
pointment of a committee of three, to consider the propriety 
of establishing a " Central School for the instruction of tutors 
and monitors, and for the promotion from the general schools 
of pupils deserving distinction." A special meeting to hear 
their report was held on the 6th of October, 1826, and, after 
long and full discussion, the plan as presented was adopted, 
by a vote of sixteen ayes to thirteen nays. Only a brief out- 
line of this report can be given, They assert the great and 
permanent importance of the subject; that the necessity for 
such schools was generally acknowledged by intelligent men, 
and that the Legislatures of New York and Massachusetts 
have recently had the matter under consideration ; that a suit- 
able building was wanted to accommodate at least four hun- 
dred students, and furnish proper rooms for the meetings of 
the trustees and the Society ; " the course of study should be 
eminently practical, and should therefore involve a due pro- 
portion of Natural Philosophy, Practical Mathematics, Mer- 
, can tile Arithmetic, Book-keeping* and the elements of Geology 
and Chemistry ;" that the institution should be " conducted 
throughout on the monitorial system^ in order to be expedi- 
tious as to results ;" it would furnish at least one hundred 
teachers a year for the city and state ; and, finally, that its ef- 
fect upon the "general schools" would be highly beneficial 
if they were made the sole avenue to the Central School. 

' The list of books recommended by the committee included, for the seventh 
class, Scripture Lessons and Moral Monitor; the eighth class, Murray's Intro- 
duction, English Header, and New York Header No. 3 ; for the ninth and 
highest class, Murray's Sequel, Power of Religion, Historical Reader, Willet's 
Aritlimetic, Day's Tables, Hart's Geography, 2d Book and Atlas, Tanner's 
Maps, Goold Brown's Grammars, Ty tier's History, Ben net's Book-keeping, 
Hawney's Mensuration, Blair's Rhetoric, and Alvah Clark's Astronomy. — Min- 
utes of 1826. 

^ The term Lancasterian henceforth disappears from the minutes. 



44 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

A memorial to the Legislature/ asking for funds to carry- 
out the new project, was ordered from the same committee, 
who were directed to report at the next regular meeting. 

Applications having been made for appointments as as- 
sistants in several schools, the Executive Committee reported 
strongly against the measure, as " abandoning the principle 
of the beautiful system" from which they had so long de- 
rived excellent results, and " they hoped to meet the real re- 
quirements of the schools by good paid monitors," of whom 
they anticipated a " full supply from the better class of chil- 
dren who are entering the schools." A report as to the ex- 
pediency of appointing a " General Superintendent or Ex- 
ecutive Officer" was also in the negative, and both reports 
were adopted by the Board. 

' Tliis,povtion of the original minutes concludes with a significant line : 
"N.B. — This report is not meant for the rublic." 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 45 



VIIL 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1827-1828. 

Failure of Pay System. — Disastrous Results. — Caste. — Reports of Committee of 
Investigation. — First Result. — Poor American Citizens will not be consid- 
ered Paupers. — Second Result. — Failure of the One-teacher System of 
Lancaster. — Permanent paid Monitors-general. 

All tliese higli expectations were to be sadly disappoint- 
ed, and tlie plans from •which, such advantages were antici- 
pated, to result only in disaster. An alarming condition of 
things was beginning to develop itself, and threatened to 
strike from under the Society the very basis of its existence 
— the popularity of their schools, and the moral support of 
the people. In their comprehensive scheme they had made 
two serious miscalculations, each of which was to teach a les- 
son never to be forgotten. 

Complaints first begun to come in from teachers and sec- 
tions as to unexpected difficulties in collecting the tuition fees, 
small as these were. Some, having never before paid, were 
not now disposed to do so, and withdrew their children upon 
being solicited to give the smallest direct contribution to the 
support of the schools; many others insisted that, as the 
schools derived money from the School Fund of the state, 
the Society could have no right to enforce further payment 
from individuals ; that is, they would not pay twice. Though 
some came in from the private schools, yet their number 
was far less than was anticipated, and the general attendance 
rapidly diminished. Out of the shrunken register' of 465-i 

' A previous report, Aug;nst 1, 1825, gave a register of 5919 ; on the 1st of 
May, 182G, the very day the new law went into operation, it had already 
shrunk to 4G54. 



46 HISTORY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION. 

pupils, no less than 1G90 were on the free list; while of tlie 
2874 who were nominally pay pupils, a large part of the par- 
ents paid only one or two quarters at the most, so that their 
children should be known among their schoolmates as " pay 
scholars," and thereafter evaded all further demands. As 
the teachers were the agents for the collection of the money, 
and were held in some sort responsible for their proportion- 
ate amount, they were more or less urgent in their efforts to 
swell the income of the Society, and unpleasant altercations 
with parents, leading to the withdrawal of pupils, of course 
resulted.' 

A for more serious evil, and one fraught with most dis- 
astrous consequences, was the caste sjn'rit at once introduced 
into the schools, and gathering strength from day to day 
with the efforts made to collect the money. Children who 
paid looked down upon those who did not or could not. 
Eacli school divided itself into two classes; the pride and as- 
sumption of the one, and the mortification and indignation of 
the other, intensified as both were by the keen sensibilities 
and imaginative temperament of childhood, being a fruitful 
source of disturbance of discipline and harmony in school, 
and of wratliful and disparaging comment by the sympathetic 
parents and friends at home. The Eoman Catholic, the 
Episcopal, Methodist, and other churches opened wide the 
doors of their free schools to the dissatisfied of the one class, 
and, by establishing cheap pay schools, drew off large num- 
bers of the other. 

The carefully-selected committee of investigation, to whom 
this alarming state of affairs was referred, in a report which, 
they promptly rendered to a full meeting of the Board, give 
evidence not only of a conflict of opinion among themselves, 
but of a reluctance on the part of some of its members to ac- 
cept the first great lesson of the occasion. In presenting their 
views of the cause of the failure of their plan, it is painful to 

' Comparative statements of the amounts collected in the different schools 
apiicav in the minutes, and must have been felt, in some cases, as reflecting 
upon the teacher. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 47 

find, as the very first point in their report, a curt and bitter 
allusion to the existence in the community of " a large class 
of persons who are 2^oor, and yet too proud to confess it." They 
had yet to realize that it was the legitimate outgrowth and 
evidence of that free and healthful democratic spirit that, 
even in the poorest of our citizens, refuses to accept an in- 
ferior social position for .themselves or their children on ac- 
count of their poverty, and which causes every man and 
every woman, whatever their previous disadvantages, and 
come from whatever land of caste and tyranny they may, to 
stand erect as American 'citizens, and demand, as their "in- 
alienable right," a recognition of their possession of every 
attribute and characteristic of a full and equal manhood. It 
was but a form of that spirit of freedom which instinctively 
refuses to accord special social rights or consideration to mere 
wealth or the accidents of birth, and which realizes that, in 
our system of society, the children of those who are the rich 
to-day may be as poor as the poorest to-morrow ; and that 
the little one on the father's knee, though supported and ca- 
ressed by hands stained and hardened with honest toil, may 
some day be counted among those whom their country hon- 
ors with its most sacred trusts, or enshrines in its most grate- 
ful memories. 

Another and juster train of thought is manifest in a con- 
cluding part of their report, and a principle is stated that 
went to the root of the matter, and became, after a year or 
two of delay, the fundamental idea of their organization, and 
the living source of their expansion and progress: "Your 
committee believe that the only true and legitimate system 
of our Public Schools would be to open our doors to all 
classes of our citizens free of any expense, and that all de- 
ficiencies should be defrayed by a public tax." 

The second lesson derived from their experience, and one 
which they were slow to acknowledge, was a revelation of a 
radical weakness in the machinery of the monitorial system, 
at least in the form which it had so long presented in New 
York. So long as reading, writing, and the simpler rules of 



48 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

arithmetic constituted tlie whole course of study, with proper 
energy and vigilance in their single teacher, a whole depart- 
ment might be carried on in a mechanical way, and a certain 
sort of result obtained. But as soon as more advanced 
studies were introduced, involving a higher mental discipline, 
and demanding something more than mechanical ability in 
the teacher, and ability to read from the monitor, the system 
at once broke down. 

It seems incredible too, that gentlemen of so much experi- 
ence could have thought it possible for one man or one wom- 
an to superintend all the various old grades from the alpha- 
bet to the highest — receive and confer with the trustees, par- 
ents, and other visitors to a school sometimes numbering five 
hundred pupils — collect, receipt for, and pay over the many 
small sums demanded — keep the usual minute record of the 
pupils' names, ages, promotions, and the occupation and resi- 
dence of their parents — look after the absentees — maintain in 
the department that peculiar discipline the very foundation of 
which was undivided attention and unremitting vigilance — 
and at the same time take up and teach the new studies of 
geography, astronomy, grammar, histor}'-, and book-keeping-, 
and, besides so heavy a drain on the energies of any one 
who should attempt to carry out such a programme, to re- 
quire that the best half of Saturday should be added to the 
full five days previously required, and all without any addi- 
tional compensation. 

It needed no prophet to predict the result. For these 
higher studies, necessarily demanding so large a part of the 
teacher's time, and forcing him to neglect a large part of his 
school, the charge was two dollars a quarter. The first 
quarter 107 paid ; the next, 78 ; the third, only 13 ; the total 
income from this source, from which so much had been ex- 
pected, being only $318, while the outlay for maps and globes 
alone was at least $800, besides other new expenses. 

Besides the statement of the important principle already 
referred to, and which is first and prominent in their list of 
remedies, the committee recommended certain modifications 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 49 

which they hoped would restore things to a satisfactory con- 
dition. Both the monitorial and the pay system were retain- 
ed, the charges being reduced to one-half — only the old " stud- 
ies were to be pursued except as a reward of merit ;" Satur- 
day should be again a holiday, and teachers should receive a 
special allowance for all over a certain number. 

In regard to the " Central School " the times were evident- 
ly not propitious, and their committee asked to be discharged, 
" not being ready to report," while the question as to a su- 
perintendent is not further heard of. 

Although reporting against the employment of assistant 
teachers, the Executive Committee acknowledged the neces- 
sity of more efficient and regular help than had heretofore 
been given by the casual monitors paid by the week, and 
asked for and obtained the power to appoint two permanent 
paid monitors to each department;' and although these were 
only advanced pupils from thirteen to fifteen years of age 
already trained in the various duties of monitorship, they 
soon became, notwithstanding* their title, to all intents and 
purposes, assistants ; the chief oversight and management of 
the monitorial part of the department falling, in a few years, 
into their hands, and allowing the principal to perform for 
the advanced classes the ordinary duties of a teacher. 

' Two boys, combined salaries, $300 ; two girls, combined salaries, $200. 
This was the maximum. The usual salary for the first year was $25. 

D 



50 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



IX. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1S2.S-1839. 

Infant School Society. — Junior Department in No. 8. — Infant Department in 
No. 10. — Comparison of the two Systems. — Lancaster vs. Pestalozzi. — 
Absurd Conceptions of Pestalozzianisra. — Rejection of Lancasterianism 
for Infant Pupils. 

About this period anotlier innovation in education began 
to develop itself in New Yopk, leading in time to most radi- 
cal changes. Originating at nearly the same time with the 
systems of Bell and Lancaster, Pestalozzianism was much 
more liable to perversion and misapplication, because far 
more philosophical in its fundamental principles, and requir- 
ing in the teacher abilities the very farthest from mechanical. 
Its methods and principles, already widely adopted in Eu- 
rope, were but vaguely understood or appreciated, and had 
made but slow progress in America. Early in 1827, an as- 
sociation of ladies was formed in New York, under the title 
of the Infant School Society, Mrs. Joanna Bethune being the 
First Directress. Similar societies were organized in Boston 
and Charleston in 1828, other cities rapidly following. With 
much that was sound in principle and excellent in practice, 
these schools presented some features which now seem not a 
little absurd. 

In London, New York, and Charleston, the ages of the 
children ranged from two to six years; in Boston, from 
eighteen months to four years. From two to six cents per 
week were usually demanded ; two sessions of at least three 
hours each were held each day; vaccination was required 
before admission ; several female teachers, usually two, were 
employed in each school ; and, the children being taught in 
masses, the monitorial system was not used. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 51 

Up to this time all the various grades, from the abece- 
darian of the sand-class to the highest, were, in the Public 
Schools, taught in one department; but, stimulated by the 
success of the Infant Schools, the Society now ventured upon 
the experiment of separating the younger children, both boys 
and girls, from the older pupils, at the same time admitting 
infants. A trial of this plan was made in the basement of 
No. 8 by organizing therein a "Junior Department," in charge 
of a female principal, assisted by a paid monitress.' Children 
of three years and even younger were admitted, the numbers 
soon reaching 300 or more. Apparently not even question- 
ing the superiority of the Lancasterian system for such a 
school, this experimental department was organized by the 
trustees on their favorite plan. 

Meanwhile the ladies of the Infant School Society, had or- 
ganized a school of about 170 pupils in Canal Street and upon 
the Pestalozzian system as they understood it. The intro- 
duction of singing, especially of lively, pleasant, and appro- 
priate songs for little children, the variety in the exercises, the 
discarding of books and lesson-boards, and the substitution of 
oral teaching, partly, though not intelligently, objective, soon 
made the system highly popular ; while the tender age of 
the little ones, and their manifest interest, aroused the warm- 
est sympathies. The matter soon arrested the attention of 
the Trustees of the Public Schools, and several successive 
committees were appointed in 1827 for the purpose of in- 
specting this school, and yet another in Greene Street, and 
comparing the results with those obtained in the new Junior 
Department in No. 8. 

Whatever the previous convictions of these gentlemen, 
their reports were all greatly in favor of the new system ; 
and, in order more thoroughly to test its merits, an Infant 
Department was opened in the basement of No. 10 in May, 
1828, and the counsel and assistance of the ladies of the In- 
fant School Society solicited in its organization and super- 

' Naomi H. Reynolds and J. C. Andrews, the first public primaiy teachers, 
appointed 1827, at $200 and $75, respectively. 



52 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION". 

vision. They accordingly appointed a committee for the 
purpose, who were of g^'eat service ; the only disadvantage 
being such as would naturally arise from the school and 
teachers having two independent sets of governors. 

When time enough had been allowed to develop the re- 
sults, a committee was again appointed to compare the In- 
fant Department No. 10 with the Junior No. 8. The re- 
port was to the same effect as before, and proclaimed that 
the monitorial plan had been weighed in the balance and 
found wanting. In their opinion, it was " too dull and 
monotonous for the infant mind, while the other presented a 
judicious admixture of amusement and instruction; that 
since fully one-third of all the children in the schools of the 
Society were between the ages of four and six, the adoption 
of the system was highly desirable ; that an inordinate 
amount of time was spent under the monitor in the sand- 
class or the draft in learning to print or to decipher a single 
letter, or to spell a few unmeaning syllables;" adding the sur- 
prising alternative, that " the time might better be emjjloyed 
in conveying to their minds some of the simplest notions of 
geography, astronomy, and natural history, and in exercising 
their memories with some of the simplest facts of history, and 
matters of information in common life ; all of which may be 
done by an intelligent person in a style of conversation, by 
aid of a few pictures and other materials for illustration.'" 

' This sort of perversion and misconception of the methods and principles 
of Pestalozzi was by no means confined to New York or to America, nor is it 
yet entirely without remaining traces ; and the trustees may well be excused 
for greatly preferring even so unphilosophical a system, with its many redeem- 
ing features, to the mindless, musicless, and dull monotony of the monitorial 
system, which it partly, and should have completely supplanted. 

In all parts of the country the highest commendation was bestowed upon 
this perverted Infant School system by men of high culture and social position, 
although it is a relief to find it stated in one of the commendatory reports of the 
Public School Society that "many intelligent and benevolent persons look upon 
such infant schools as the temporary eftcct of a mistaken philanthropy." The 
Charleston Report for 1829, after stating that none will be admitted till they 
can walk alone, gives the general impression produced at the time by these 
schools in exclaiming, "IIow delightful it is to hear these little one's lisping 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 63 

Another conclusion stated in their report refers to a mat- 
ter which, however trite it now is, was practically a revolu- 
tionary novelty in the schools of our city, and marks the 
progress they were steadily making toward a better state of 
things. "Your committee are unanimous in the opinion that, 
in general, female teachers are much better calculated than 
male teachers for the instruction of small children of both 
sexes." 

In consequence of the report, a resolution was passed, 
changing the title of Junior and Infant Departments to Pri- 
mary Departments, and looking to the final establishment of 
schools like that in No. 10 in the basements of all the build- 
ings of the Society. The condition of their finances, bow- 
ever, and the necessity of providing more new buildings, to- 
gether with a legal difficulty as to spending the school money 
in the tuition of such young children, delayed the measure 
for several years. 

Another important inroad into Lancasterian plans was the 
abolition of its peculiar and distinctive system of rewards 
and punishments, which was based upon the award or forfeit- 
ure of tickets of merit having a certain pecuniary value, and 
exchangeable for toys, knives, etc. 

knowledge much heijond their early af/e,vfere they not taught on the ])lan pur- 
sued," etc., and the Boston Report for the same year has similar testimonials 
as to "astonishment and delight at their progress." * 



54 HiCJTOliY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



X. 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 
1839-1833. 

Efforts to abolish the Pay System and establish true Free Schools. — Origin of 
the half-mill Tax. — School Census. — Grant of one-fourth of the Tax asked 
for. — Efforts for the Remainder. — Common Council demands Control. — 
Catholic Orphan Asylum. — Tux granted, and Asylum admitted to par- 
ticipate. 

The unsatisfactory and evil e'ffects of the pay system, even 
in the modified form in which for a year or two it had been 
continued, at last led to a complete change of policy. Profit- 
ing by their varied experience, the trustees from this time 
forth boldly advocated a general schoohtax of sufiicient mag- 
nitude to furnish a generous support for the schools, the throw- 
ing open the doors to all citizens as a matter of right^ and not 
of charity, and such a modification of the course of study as 
should offer for every man's children the best attainable En- 
glish education. After a series of interesting propositions, 
reports, and debates, in which their views took definite and 
practical shape, a bold and vigorous address was issued to 
their fellow-citizens, abounding with advanced ideas, and 
proposing a plan for carrying them into effect.' After pre- 
senting school statistics and plans, and referring to the steady 

' A synopsis is subjoined : After quoting from a recent address of the May- 
or of Boston, "Every school, the admission to which is grounded on acquire- 
ments not easily attained by the cliildren of the whole community, must be con- 
sidered as for the benefit of the /««', and ko< of the many. The standard of pub- 
lic education should be raised to the greatest height, but it should be effected 
hy raising the standard in the Common Schools:" they go on to say that no part of 
the state has more means, and in no part is public instruction so imperatively 
demanded — that the ratio of pupils in schools of all kinds to the whole popula- 
tion varied from one to five to one to three in other portions of the state, while 
in the city it was as low as one to seven — that of a school population of over 
52,000, nearly or quite 25,000 between the ages of five and fifteen attended no 



PUBLIC SCnOOL SOCIETY. 55 

increase of immigration and the importance of general intel- 
ligence in this city to the affairs of the state and the nation, 
it adds: "In other countries it may be justly thought dan- 
gerous to their present rulers to enlighten the people. But 
with us the question of their political power is settled ; and, 
if they are true to themselves, it is settled forever. We wish 
to keep that power in their hands, and to enable them to ex- 
ercise it with wisdom. The laboring classes have justly been 
called the backbone and sinews of the republic. It is not 
enough that they know how to read and write and cast ac- 
counts. We wish to provide them better excitements than 
they now have. We wish them to enjoy the pleasures, as 
well as the other advantages of intellectual occupation. We 
wish them to be able to understand and admire the benefi- 
cence of the Creator in the works of his hands. We wish 
them to feel that virtue is the first distinction among men, 
and knoivledge the second; and to be themselves the great 
exemplar of these truths.'" 

It was therefore of the first importance that the Public 
Schools should be made desirable to every class in the com- 
munity ; and one of the most important uses they could pos- 
sibly subserve, would be to break down at the very outset of 
life that separative caste spirit, which under whatever form or 
specious pretext it may present itself, is ever the deadly en- 
emy of practical democracy. In regard to the proposed tax, 
" We submit to the liberal consideration of the rich whether 

school whatever; and supposing one-half of them to be employed, there were 
still from 12,000 to 13,000 who should be in school, exclusive of infant pupils— 
that the proper order of claims had been too long inverted, the sick and the 
destitute not having higher claims than ignorant youth — and that good schools 
are the very foundation of democratic society. They must offer higher rewards 
for qualified teachers, propose infant schools for children from three to six, 
and recommend, 1st, one or more high schools, teaching all branches necessary 
for an active business life ; 2d, a classical school ; 3d, a seminary for the ed- 
ucation of teachers for common schools ; and, lastly, a half-mill tax to carry 
out these measures. 

' It was probably the last effort of the noble spirit that had so long stood at 
the head of the Society, and does full justice to his broad and liberal states-" 
manship. Clinton died suddenly soon after. 



66 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

their contribution would not be a profitable investment for 
their children, and whether their bonds and mortgages and 
public stocks are altogether beyond the reach of public opin- 
ion, and of that which must ultimately depend upon public 
opinion, the administration of the laws^ 

Promptly following up the good effects of this address, the 
trustees set on foot among the citizens a petition to the Legis- 
lature asking for a tax of a half-mill on the dollar of assessed 
city property, which was signed by nearly five thousand of 
the most respectable citizens, comprising the names of a large 
part of the tax-paying community. The plan was formally 
adopted by the Common Council, who memorialized for the 
tax, though not to the extent asked for by the petitioners ; 
and a law, levying, not four-eightieths, but one-eightieth of one 
per cent,, was passed by the Legislature in the session of 1829. 
Though, by the refusal of three-fourths of the amount asked 
for, their plan was shorn of many of its best features, espe- 
cially the higher and normal schools, and the total abolition 
of the pay system, the trustees were enabled to advance mate- 
rially the character of their schools and prepare the way for 
further progress. In this they were also assisted by an act 
giving power to mortgage their real estate, and legalizing 
other loans to the amount of $70,000, which in the same form 
had been found necessary to the support and expansion of 
their schools. 

While the subject of the tax was still pending, a school 
census, more complete in its results than any previous one, 
was taken by direction of the Common Council. It was 
thus ascertained that 11,000, or nearlv two-thirds of the 
whole number in private schools, were of nearly an equal 
grade as to advancement with those in the Public Schools, 
the cost in the latter being much less than even in the worst 
description of the former, and with far greater sanitary and 
disciplinary advantages. All the essential facts were fully 
laid before the community in the public prints, and in the 
annual reports of the Society.' 

' An abstract is submitted for comparison. Sec Table on page 57. 



rUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 



57 



After two years, the Board again early in 1831 applied to 
the Common Council for another memorial to the Legislature 
asking for the remaining three-eightieths of one per cent, tax, 
so as to meet the original proposition of the 5000 memorial- 
ists of 1829. The Corporation complied with the request, but 
inserted into the memorial a clause providing that this ad- 
ditional three-eightieths of one per cent, "shall be and re- 
main under the immediate and sole control of the Common 
Council." This was a new and unexpected phase of diffi- 
c'ulty. An earnest memorial of remonstrance was presented 
to the Common Council, reciting in brief outline the history 
of the Society, the important controversy in regard to re^ 
ligious sectarian schools which they supposed had reached a 
final settlement in 1825, and the impropriety of the demand 
of the Corporation in view of the fact that its members were 
all ex officio members of the Public School Society, and the 
mayor and recorder of the Board of Trustees ; and further, 
that they now and for many years had held all reasonable 



ABSTRACT OF SPECIAL SCHOOL CENSUS OF 1829. 





< o 
> o 


-I 


51 


- m 

= 2 


O 


Number 


430 

432 

259 

1,013 

13,631 

676 

4,489 

C,9(l7 

7.214 

1,869 

492 

442 

850 

7,922 

7,398 

15,320 

339 

352 


3 
C 

53 
33 

1,008 

40 

1C8 

220 

841 

270 

52 

48 

141 

633 

44S 

1,081 

14 

15 


19 

25 

5 

197 

2,2!i7 

50 

970 

2,430 

960 

15 

12 

1 

4 

1,305 

1,239 

2,544 

9 

21 


11 
21 

24 

6,007 

3,S0S 

C,0:i7 

475 

3,112 

2,895 

6,007 

23 

22 


4C3 

484 

311 

1,243 

22,943 

760 

9,435 

15,564 

9,490 

2,154 

558 

491 

9?5 

12,972 

11,980 

24,952 

385 

410 






From 4 to 5 Yrara of Age 


From 5 to 15 " ''■ 


Above 15 " '^ .... 


Attend Sunday Schools 


First Elements 


Geography, Grammar, and Arithmetic. . . 
Higher BranchcH 






Foreign Languages ; 


Males 


Females 


Whole Number of Pupils 


Male Teachers 


Female Teachers 





Of the 430 private schools, G were for colored children, 3 of them reported 
as "excellent;" only 52 privati schools not elementary ; of the 24,952 pupils, 
805 were colored ; and there were about one-twelfth more boys than girls. 



68 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

control over the expenditures and distribution of school 
moneys in the Commissioners of Common School Funds of 
the city of New York — a body consisting of one person from 
each ward, appointed, as provided by law, by the Common 
Council itself, to receive and pay over the moneys as direct- 
ed by state and city laws, and visiting every participating 
school twice in each year to see that all legal conditions were 
complied with. 

The necessity for the additional tax is then stated in ex- 
tenso, and their alarm at the unexpected proposition that the^ 
proceeds should be placed under solfe control of the Common 
Council, and not, as with the rest of the school moneys, 
under that of the commissioners, ending with a cautious ref- 
erence as to the possible motives which have led to such 
a proposition, they having "no conclusive evidence that it 
is intended to divert the proposed tax from the customary 
channels." An offer was also made, as in 1825, to convey 
all their real estate to the Common Council, receiving in re- 
turn a perpetual lease so long as the property should be used 
for school purposes. 

While this matter was still pending, formal application 
was made to the Common Council by the Eoman Catholic 
Benevolent Society for their Orphan Asylum, and by the 
Trustees of the Methodist Church in behalf of their charity 
schools for a portion of the school funds. After much ex- 
citement, the matter was finally settled by the passage of an 
act by the Legislature, granting the additional tax, and pro- 
viding for its distribution in the usual manner, but the Asy- 
lum was at the same time admitted to the participation for 
reasons which can be better given in another chapter.* 

^ See Religious Question. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 59 



XL 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

183S-1843. 

Final Abolition of the Pay System. — More Primary Departments opened. — 
Primary Schools established. — Assistant Teachers employed. — Course of 
Study extended. — Evening Schools. — Transfer of Schools of Manumission 
Society. — Saturday Normal School. — Trustees' Hall. — Financial Embar- 
rassments. — Application of Catholic Free Schools for Participation in the 
School Fund. — Exciting Controversy. — Governor's Message. — Act of 
April 11, 1842, extends the State System to the City. — Organization of 
the Board of Education. 

Being now assured of sufScient means, the trustees com- 
menced with energy the work of reforming or transforming 
their system. The plan of payment for tuition, which in the 
last year of its continuance had produced only $839, was 
finally abolished February 3, 1832, and public notice given 
that schools were now open to all as a common right, and 
that every effort would be made to render them attractive 
and desirable to all classes of citizens. A full year was spent 
in preparing for and introducing the necessary changes, the 
time being somewhat extended by the interruptions resulting 
from the f&arful visitation of cholera. 

Primary departments similar to that in Ko. 10 were open- 
ed in various schools as rapidly as circumstances permitted. 
A special committee having visited Boston for the purpose of 
inspecting the system of public instruction, and especially the 
Dame Primary Schools in that city, presented a report which 
was adopted by the trustees, recommending a new order of 
elementary schools. These were to be known as the Public 
Primary Schools on a modification of the Boston plan, and 
were to be established throughout the city, each ward to form 



60 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

a primary school district, with such subdivisions as might be 
found expedient. The large and expensive buildings ownod 
and occupied by the. Society were separated by wide inter- 
vals, which were steadily filling with a denser population. It 
was therefore judged expedient to hire such suitable premises 
as could be obtained, and thus scatter small and good schools; 
so that, by having them brought, as it were, to their own 
doors, thousands who would not send their little ones to the 
distant Primary Department or Public School would be in- 
duced to let them attend the small schools in their immediate 
neighborhood. No step ever taken by the Society had a 
more beneficial result. It added greatly to their popularity 
and usefulness, and was a chief source of their financial 
strength during the remaining years of their existence. 

The several classes of schools were now to be known as 
1st. Public Schools, having the more advanced boys and girls 
in separate departments ; 2d. Primary Departments, which 
were the modified Infant Schools; 3d. Primary Schools. 
As the plan of appointing sections could not well be applied, 
a large standing committee, known as the Prim;iry School 
Committee, was appointed, with power to call upon the Ex- 
ecutive Committee for teachers, and the Supply Committee 
for the necessary material. Each Primary School was to be 
conducted by a female teacher and a paid monitress, the num- 
ber of pupils not to exceed eighty ; boys admitted from four 
years of age to six ; girls, four years and over. The course of 
study embraced " reading, spelling, and writing, with the sim- 
ple elements of arithmetic and geography, to be taught oral- 
ly, and, as far as possible, with visible illustrations by means 
of a map of the hemispheres, numeral frame, and black-board." 
A modification of the monitorial system was introduced, the 
monitor's duties devolving chiefly upon the teachers them- 
selves. The simultaneous or concert system was largely em- 
ployed. Both of the lower orders of the schools were to 
make regular promotions to the Public Schools. 

In consequence of this step, the operations of the trustees 
expanded with great rapidity. The committee were at first 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 61 

authorized to open ten schools ;' but the popularity of the 
measure, as indicated by the promptness with which these 
were filled and even overcrowded, soon led to arrangements 
for ten more, followed by yet others ; some sixty or more be- 
ing finally opened, many of them with numbers far beyond 
the original limit. 

Eadical changes took place in the upper departments. 
The course of study was extended so as to include astronomy, 
algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and book-keeping. Profit- 
ing by their previous experience, an assistant teacher was now 
provided in addition to the two monitors for each depart- 
ment, and separate recitation-rooms built.* The principal and 
his assistant were chiefly occupied with the advanced classes, 
while the lower, under a form of the monitorial system, were 
in charge of the paid monitors. The salaries of the sev- 
eral grades of teachers were at the same time somewhat ad- 
vanced.' 

Applications having been received from various sections 
of the city for the establishment of evening schools for ap- 
prentices and others, the trustees took the matter into consid 
eration, but ascertained from the legal advisers that the law 
gave no clear right so to expend the public money, and that 
they had better " avoid the assumption of doubtful powers." 
On the 18th of January, 1833, they put in operation, how- 
ever, a plan which in their opinion complied with the advice 
received, by directing " that evening schools for apprentices 
and others be opened " in certain buildings belonging to the 
Society, and " that all engagements with male teachers, assist- 
ants, and monitors are to include a condition that they are to 
teach evening school if ordered, and without any additional 
pay." Several principals and assistants of day schools were 

' No. 1, in Orchard Street, opened in September, 1832. 

^ Though often asked for, these had been refused in the earlier years of the 
Society. 

' The salary of the male principal was raised from $800 to $1000, of the 
female principal, from $350 to $400. The maximum tor each of the otliers 
was $C00, $200, and $100 in the male department, and $250, $100, and $50 
in the female department. 



62 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

" ordered " to each evening school as associate teachers, and 
being necessarily peers, there was no real head, and, conse- 
quently, no efficient discipline. As, under the circumstances, 
the teachers could not be expected to take much interest in 
their work, it is not surprising that the report of the next 
year modestly refers to these schools as an experiment ; the 
next, that they " are not entirely successful ;" and succeeding 
ones "regret the smallness of their numbers, and the great 
difficulties in regard to discipline.'" After a few winters of 
forced and uncompensated labor, the teachers were finally re- 
lieved by the quiet abolition of the schools, no resolution to 
that effect appearing on the minutes. 

In the latter part of 1832, the managers of the Manumis- 
sion Society, whose schools, like those of the Public School 
Society, were supported by the public funds, applied for a 
committee of conference to effect a union. It was felt by the 
trustees that on many accounts it was better that the two sets 
of schools should remain separate ; but fearing further diver- 
sion of the school fund, it was desirable that the number of 
societies participating should be as small as possible, and ar- 
rangements were accordingly made for a transfer of the 
schools and property of the elder society. After some delay, 
in consequence of legislative action beiiig found necessary to 
give a title to their real estate, on the 2d of May, 1834, the 
transfer was effected, the price paid being $12,000. An 
unexpended balance of school money, amounting to about 
$9000, was also transferred, and the six or seven African 
schools were placed in charge of a special committee, with 
similar powers to the Committee on Primary Schools, and 
comprising several of thcYnost active members of the Manu- 
mission Society.* The aggregate register of these schools 
was nearly 1-100, with an average attendance of about one- 
half that number. Applications were also made by the man- 

' Corporal punishment w.as " miscellaneously" inflicted, each teacher disci- 
plining Iiis own class. Those familiar with evening schools may easily imagine 
the occasional result. 

' The jManumission Society continued its separate existence for the other 
objects contemplated in its constitution. 



PUBLIC SCnOOL SOCIETY. 63 

agers of tlic House of Eefuge, the Manhattanvillc, Ilarlcm, 
and other schools in the upper part of tlie island ; but vari- *,. 
ous objections, legal or prudential, prevented a similar result. 

The schools of the Infant School Society, and, with the ex- 
ception of their school in the basement of No. 5, the schools 
also of the Female Association, seem to have been silently ab- 
sorbed into the Primary Schools and Departments, no legis- , 
lation being necessary, as they held no real estate.* 

The large buildings of the Society were now fourteen in 
number, and contained three departments in each. Besides 
these, were the numerous Primary Schools and Departments 
and the African schools. In each and all of these from one 
to two monitors were employed, all, excepting those in the 
male departments, being females. Appointed at a very 
early age, usually from fourteen to fifteen, but in many cases 
in the primaries even younger, they were cut off, by the ele- 
mentary nature of the studies committed to their care, from 
all further opportunity for systematic advance in their own 
scholarship. Many of these, developing executive abilities 
of a high order, were in time promoted to the position of as- 
sistant, or even of principal, in the primaries, but the great 
advance in the order of studies precluded their appointment 
to corresponding positions in the upper departments without 
greatly increase^ mental culture. 

In view of these facts, and of the certainty that the diffi- 
culty would increase with the numbers /Df the schools, the 
Committee on Teachers and Monitors, which was a sub-com- 
mittee of the Executive, presented on the 1st of August, 
1834, a special report upon the subject. In accordance with 
their suggestions, a school for monitors of the Primary Schools 
and Departments was opened in No. 5 on Saturdays. The 
sessions were five hours each, and the studies chiefly those 
of the higher classes of the -upper schools; though soon 
called a Normal School, no normal instruction was given. 
Two teachers, both of whom must be principals in the Pub- 

' The school in the basement of No. 5 continuc<l in charge of the Female 
Association till March, 1845. 



6i HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

lie Schools, were appointed at small salaries ; the original ar- 
rangement, which seems to have been of no long continu- 
ance, providing that the school should have a female princi- 
pal and a male assistant. The attendance was compulsory, 
under penalty of non-increase of salary, loss of promotion, or 
even of position. The beneficial effects being soon manifest, 
the plan was extended so as to include the female monitors 
of the upper schools, and those qualified pupils of the ninth 
class of girls who were desirous of appointments. A similar 
school, though necessarily on a smaller scale, was opened for 
the monitors of the male departments, and a third for the 
teachers of the colored schools. 

Up to 1841, the meetings of the trustees and the Society 
and of their various committees had been held in a part of 
one of their school buildings ; but their widely extended and 
increasing operations requiring a permanent location and 
much greater facilities, a site was purchased on the corner of 
Grand and Elm Streets, and a suitable building erected, with 
proper office conveniences, a room for the meetings, and 
others for the Saturday Normal School and two Primary 
Schools, besides a " Depository " for the storing and distribu- 
tion of supplies for all the various schools of the Society.' 

Notwithstanding the apparent removal of all financial diffi- 
culties by the grant of the full one- twentieth of one per cent.' by 
the Act of 1831, the trustees again found themselves embar- 
rassed. The city continued to expand with greater rapidity 
than ever, and more and more schools had. to be provided. 
The Common Council, instead of advancing the sum annual- 
ly raised for school purposes with the increasing valuation of 
property, saw fit to interpret the law as granting a fixed sum, 
equal to one-twentieth of one per cent, on the assessed value 
of the year in which the act was passed. Some of those who 

' Tliis building, now the Hall of the Board of Education, has since been 
greatly enlarged and improved, and is the central point in the management 
of the school officers of the city. It contains the offices of the Clerk and Su- 
perintendent, and meeting-rooms of the Board, embellished with the portraits 
of many of its presidents, together with those of De Witt Clinton and Geo. 
T. Trimble, the first and last presidents of the Public School Society 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 65 

had signed the original petition for the levy of the special 
tax now claimed that they had understood that it was to be 
levied only for a short period. Toward the close of 1834 the 
Board of Supervisors " wished to be informed whether it 
would be again found necessary to raise a similar sum to that 
raised last year," and also if the trustees were now ready to 
convey their real estate to the Common Council. In view 
of the apparent desire to cripple them by refusing adequate 
means, and of the possibly disastrous result of another con- 
troversy on the question of religion, which was now begin- 
ning once more to present itself, the trustees did not deem it 
expedient to comply with the suggestion as to the property. 
In 1^39, having become more and more embarrassed, and in 
order to secure the advantages of the increased value of city 
property, they made a vigorous though unsuccessful attempt 
to procure the passage of a " Declaratory Act" in relation to 
the half-mill tax. 

Early in 1840 the trustees of the Catholic Free Schools 
made application to the Common Council to be allowed to 
participate in the school funds. The large and influential 
body of citizens whose views were represented in this applica- 
tion were much dissatisfied with many things in the internal 
condition and management of the schools of the Public School 
Society, " a gigantic and growing monopoly," as they consid- 
ered it, under whose sole control were all the means of public 
instruction. 

" It was alleged that, although the Society belonged to no 
particular religious denomination, and although it did not 
teach directly the creed of any particular sect, that still its 
schools were practically sectarian, and that its books and in- 
struction had so strong a bias in favor of Protestantism, that 
Eoman Catholics, who were by universal consent entitled to 
a perfect equality of rights, could not conscientiously send 
their children to the schools, although taxed for their support. 
The Society offered and endeavored to make their books ac- 
ceptable to all, but an excitement of feeling had arisen which 
could not be thus allayed ; the subject was brought before the 

E 



66 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Common Council again in 18-iO, and discussed with extraor- 
dinary ability on all sides. It was thence transferred to the 
Legislature of the state in 1841, and became so important a 
question of st-ate policy that at the opening of the session of 
1842, the governor in his annual message, after stating that, 
under existing circumstances, twenty thousand children in 
the city were practically unprovided with instruction, pro- 
ceded as follows : 

" ' Happily in this, as in other instances, the evil is discov- 
ered to have had its origin no deeper than a departure from 
the equality of general laws. In our general system of Com- 
mon Schools, trustees, chosen by tax-paying citizens, levy 
taxes, build school-houses, pay teachers, and govern schools, 
which are subject to visitation by similarly-elected inspect- 
ors, who certify the qualification of teachers ; and all schools 
thus constituted participate in just proportion in the public 
moneys, which are conveyed to them by commissioners also 
elected by the people. 

-» ***** 

'"I submit, therefore, with entire willingness, to approve 
whatever adequate remedy you may propose, the expediency 
of vesting to the people of the city of New York what I am 
sure the people of no other part of the state would, upon any 
consideration, relinquish — the education of their children. 
For this purpose it is only necessary to vest the control of 
the Common Schools in a Board, to be composed of commis- 
sioners elected by the people, which Board shall apportion the 
school moneys among all the schools, including those now ex- 
isting, which shall be organized and conducted in conformity 
to its general regulations and the laws of the state in propor- 
tion to the number of pupils instructed. It is not left doubt- 
ful that the restoration to the Common Schools of the city of 
this simple and equal feature of the Common Schools of the 
state would remove every complaint. 

'"This proposition has sometimes been treated as a device 
to appropriate the school funds to the endowment of semina- 
ries for teaching languages and faiths, thus to perpetuate the 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 67 

prejudices it seeks to remove — sometimes as a scheme for 
dividing that precious fund among a hundred jarring sects, 
and thus increasing the religious animosities it strives to heal 
— sometimes as a plan to subvert the prevailing religion and 
introduce one repugnant to the consciences of our fellow-citi- 
zens, while, in truth, it simply proposes, by enlightening 
equally the minds of all, to enable them to detect error wher- 
ever it may exist, and to reduce uncongenial masses into an 
intelligent, virtuous, harmonious, and happy people.' 

"This recommendation of the governor was extremely 
unacceptable to a large portion of the people of this city ; and 
had it not proposed to preserve the schools of the Public 
School Society, which had, deservedly, the confidence and af- 
fection of so large a number of the citizens, it is doubtful 
whether the popular will would have allowed the recommend- 
ation of the governor to go into useful effect. As it was, how- 
ever, the Legislature adopted the views of the executive, and 
extended by law into this city the Common School system, 
which had prevailed for thirty years in the residue of the state, 
placing the management of the schools in the hands of inspec- 
tors, trustees, and commissioners elected by the people, still al- 
lowing the Public School Society and other corporations to 
continue their existing schools, and participate in the public 
funds according to the number of their scholars, but prohibit- 
ing such participation to any school in which any religious 
sectarian doctrine or tenet shall be taught, inculcated, or prac- 
ticed.'" 

Under that act, passed Aprilll, 1842, the first Board of 
Education was organized ; and it now remains briefly to trace 
the progress of the two organizations, with their mutual re- 
actions, during the ten subsequent years, until their final and 
harmonious consolidation into one great system. 

' Keport of Board of Education for 1853. 



68 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



xn. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

1843-1853. 

Difficulties of the New System. — Great Opposition. — Prejudice. — Contrasts of 
the two Organizations. — Their radical Diiference in Principle. — Direct 
Appeal to the People. — Gradual Development of the Ward Schools. — 
Teachers. — Amendment to the Act. — Progress of the Public Schools. — 
High School. — Beneficial Reaction of Ward Schools on Public Schools. — 
Leads to rapid Changes. — Financial Difficulties of the Society. — They 
can establish no new Schools. — Free Academy opened. — Its Effects on 
the System. — New Style of School-houses. — Further Embarrassments of 
the Society. — Interest on Mortgages. — Premonitions of the final Result. 
— M'Keon's Report. — Mutual Good-will of the two Bodies. — Successive 
Steps leading to Consolidation. — Act of June 4, 1853. — Final Meeting, and 
Dissolution of the Society. — Summary. 

The new guardians and guides of public instruction had 
no easy task before them. The outgrowth of intense excite- 
ment and bitter controversy, the subject of misconception 
and misrepresentation, with the prejudices, animosities, and 
fears of a large and influential portion of the citizens arrayed 
against it, the new system had to contend with difficulties that 
seemed well-nigh insuperable. A powerful and compact or- 
ganization, strong in the character and influence of its indi- 
vidual members and the justly-earned approbation and sym- 
pathy of hundreds of thousands, already occupied a large 
portion of the field. The one thoroughly centralized, from its 
origin, and disciplined by long experience, both as an organ- 
ization and from the continuance of its individual members, 
with subordinate committees and local sections, all of its own 
erection, and responsible to the central power ; the other, dis- 
crete, apparently incoherent, with as many independent boards 
as there were wards in the city — a complex machinery of 
trustees, inspectors, and commissioners from all classes of 



BOARD OF EDTOATION, ETC. 69 

society, and with powers and duties not so sharply defined as 
to prevent injurious disputes — with the central Board of 
Education virtually dependent upon the dictum of the local 
ones, with ofl&cers of every grade without experience, it would 
seem a wonder that the new system had not died at its very 
birth. But it contained a vital element more than sufficient 
to overcome all these difficulties, more than enough to over- 
balance the advantages possessed by its powerful rival. It 
was based upon a DIRECT and immediate appeal to the peo- 
ple. Xo body of men, no matter what their character or 
social standing, were placed, without or against the tvill of the 
people, between them and their children. If the}'- have one 
interest which, in this land of self-govei-ninent, they should jeal- 
ously guard, and keep as closely as possible under their own 
control, surely it is the selection of those into whose hands is 
committed that most sacred and responsible trust, the educa- 
tion of their offspring. 

It is interesting to observe the working of this principle 
in its gradual unfolding, as the citizens came to look more 
dispassionately and understandingly on school affairs. If 
there were mistakes, this would remedy them ; if the wrong 
men were chosen, those most deeply interested would supply 
their places with better; if modifications of any sort were 
found necessary, the supreme will of the people would order 
them. And thus, little by little, and against all obstacles, 
gross misconceptions, and bitter prejudices, and after many 
errors, the system was developed by this, its innate force, till 
it should at last become, by universal consent, the chief or- 
nament and pride of our city ; at the least unsurpassed by 
any other on the globe. 

The law as originally passed was very deficient. No 
school was organized under it during the whole of the first 
year. The amendments of the next year, however, enabled 
the local officers to build and open seven schools, besides 
three in hired premises ; in 1844 three others were built ; in 
1845, two; in 1846, one. The locations selected by the 
ward officers had little or no reference to ward lines. By 



70 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

the provisions of the law, any pupil residing in the* countv 
was entitled, as in the case of the Public Schools, to attend 
any school. Availing themselves of this, officers often chose 
sites close to the ward lines, sometimes not far from the junc- 
tion of several wards, so as to draw pupils from other wards, 
while secure that no other school could be built in their own. 
Some of the Public Schools suffered greatly from having 
new schools erected within a very short distance. The build- 
ings were mostly small, and injudiciously constructed. In 
all matters involving expenditure, the trustees and the Board 
of Education were practically held in check by the rigid 
economy of the Public School Society, now more rigid 
than ever, it being highly important to either party that 
there should be no unfavorable comparative statement as to 
cost. 

In the internal administration of schools, each ward be- 
ing a " district," was virtually supreme. They selected their 
own teachers, subject to the approval of their inspectors, 
chose their own course of study, and decided upon the 
method of organization. 'The plan of three departments, as 
in the Public Schools, was generally adopted. By common 
consent, however, the unpopular monitorial system was aban- 
doned, a larger number of teachers were employed, and a suf- 
ficient number of class-rooms constructed. The troublesome 
question of religion, by which the whole subject of the estab- 
lishment and control of schools had been opened, was peace- 
ably settled by allowing each local board to select their own 
books, and determine which version of the Scriptures should 
be used, subject only to the general regulation of the act that 
" no religious sectarian doctrines should be taught, inculcated, 
or practiced." Each ward purchased its own supplies at its 
own price, and sent in the bills to the Board of Education. 
Teachers were obtained from various sources, some of them 
of a high order of ability, but many others, appointed by in- 
dividual influence, could never have passed the rigid exami- 
nation of the Public School Trustees. The Public Schools 
themselves, however, were the chief source of supply, many 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. 71 

of the best teachers in the employ of the Society passing over 
to the Ward Schools.^ 

Before the beginning of 1848, twenty-four schools had 
been organized in the various wards, some of them, however, 
not essentially different in grade from the public primaries. 
Time and experience pointed out improvements in the orig- 
inal act establishing the system, and various amendatory laws 
were from time to time passed, the whole tending to increased 
efficiency, activity, and harmony. 

Meanwhile the Public Schools and their trustees were un- 
dergoing a new experience. While the new system was yet 
struggling with its initial difficulties, and before Ward School 
No. 1 had been opened, with even more than their usual 
energy ISTo. 17, and then No. 18, had been established, and 
an unsuccessful effort made to repeal the new law. As the 
Acts of 1842 and 1843 left their authority to expend the 
public money in erecting buildings somewhat doubtful — in- 
deed it was utterly denied by the Board of Education — both 
parties again resorted to Albany, and the Act of 1844, while 
legalizing the steps already taken and the expenses incurred, 
prohibited the establishing of any new schools without the 
consent of the Board of Education. The same act also pro- 
vided that the Society should increase the number of elected 
trustees from fifty to seventy-five, who should have power 
to add to their numbers fifty additional members. The se- 
lections were judiciously made, and added many valuable 
members with new ideas to the old Board. 

A committee was appointed, a memorial to the Legisla- 

' There were many reasons for tliis: the pay was in most cases better; ex- 
perienced subordinates were oifered principalships ; the direction of the studies, 
the selection of subordinates, and nearly every other point in the internal man- 
agement was either put into the principal's hands, or greatly influenced by his 
advice ; and there was in every way greater freedom of action and develop- 
ment of individuality, while formal and offensive official stiffness and distance 
in the governing power were replaced by cordial and manifest symimthy and 
consideration. To many a sensitive and noble spirit, escape from the cold, un- 
sympathetic, almost military rule of the Society, was equivalent to an emanci- 
pation. 



72 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ture was prepared, and a vigorous eflfort made to obtain 
" authority and means to establish a High School for in- 
struction in the higher branches of an English education, and 
in Latin and Greek." This measure, it will be remember- 
ed, had been discussed and approved by the Board of Trus- 
tees even as early as 1826, but action had been delayed as 
premature and, from financial embarrassments, inexpedient. 
Although their assistance was sought by a committee of con- 
ference, the influence of the Board of Education was cast 
against the effort as being yet premature, and some years 
passed before the plan of the proposed institution was realized 
in the Free Academy. 

The steady progress and many excellences of the Ward 
Schools, which had now become more popular as the true 
scope and purpose of their fundamental principle was better 
understood, produced important internal changes in the Pub- 
lic Schools. Besides the effects of the loss of so many val- 
uable teachers, to some of whom each additional building 
offered positions, the rejection of the monitorial plan, and 
the evident popularity of so doing, soon led to the final 
abandonment of the last remnants of this, their original sys- 
tem. Many additional teachers were of course found nec- 
essary, and added largely to the strain upon the straighten- 
ing means of the Society. It involved also extensive altera- 
tions and repairs for the furnishing and fitting up of addition- 
al class-rooms. One phase of this increase of the corps of 
instructors marks another important departure from the 
traditional policy and views of the trustees. The new ap- 
pointees in the boys' departments were females ; and the ef- 
fects of this step, as had already been found in the Ward 
Schools, were in the highest degree beneficial, not only to the 
discipline but to the character of the instruction. Anoth- 
er step, small perhaps in itself, yet unmistakably indicating 
the power of the great tide of innovating improvement which 
had set in from the newer system, was the introduction of 
vocal music^ at least in the female departments, and its tolera- 
tion in the boys' schools ; the little ones of the Infant School 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. 73 

in No. 10 liad won a victory for themselves and all other 
" Primaries " in 1830.' 

Still another change, which from its relation to the annual 
average attendance and the finances, indicates the growing 
pressure which the new system was steadily exerting upon 
the old, was the extension of the annual vacation by adding 
another week, the closing of the schools also between Christ- 
mas and New Year's day, and limitation of the daily sessions 
between the hours of nine A.M. and three P.M. during the 
whole year, instead of closing as heretofore, except in the 
winter, at five p.m. While the efiicacy of their management 
was shown by the slowly-increasing numbers in average at- 
tendance notwithstanding their many difiiculties and the rapid 
growth of the Ward Schools, the expenses of the Society were 
also increasing, and faster than their income. A large por- 
tion of the general fund was almost a fixed sum, and the great 

' No feature of the schools of the Society seems more singular than this. 
Those first established were purely Lancasterian, modeled as closely as possible 
upon that of Lancaster himself, who it will be remembered was a member of 
the Society of Friends. The Public School Society, as well as the Female 
Association, originated in the ever-active benevolence of the same religious 
body, one of whose peculiarities has ever been an ojjposition to this form of 
resthetic culture. To the last of its existence, the "Quaker" element was 
very influential, almost controlling, in the Public School Society ; and one 
can hardly avoid the conclusion that their peculiar religious ideas as to mu- 
sic had much influence in strengthening other reasons assigned for its long ex- 
clusion. When La Fayette visited No. 3 in 1824,a class of girls recited a po- 
etic address in concert, and he heard another poetic address in the Park. 
The minutes of the examination of No. 6 in 1827 state with evident approval 
that "a hymn was spoken by the class." A strong effort for the introduction 
of vocal music was made by certain members of the Board of Trustees in 1836. 
A committee was appointed to consider the matter, and brought in a very deci- 
ded report in its favor. " It had been tried in No. 10 ; the teachers were unan- 
imous in its favor ; the time required would be mostly out of school-hours ; it had 
been introduced into large private and corporate schools here and in other cities ; 
it would cost nothing whatever; and would not encroach upon the school- 
time." The report was promptly "tabled." After nine more years, on the 
6th of March, 1845, Section No. IG forwarded to the Executive Committee a 
copy of a significant resolution — "that the time has arrived when vocal music 
should be taught in the Public Schools." After being referred and reported 
upon, the measure prevailed. 



74 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



increase of pupils taught reduced the pro rata to less than 
two-thirds of its previous amount, the pupils taught at the 
various classes of common schools having nearly trebled in 
the ten years previous to 1852.' They were driven to the 
most watchful economy in the expenditure, though the con- 
dition of most of their buildings, some of them in constant 
use for more than thirty years, was such as to call for large 
outlays for necessary repairs. Their funds ran short, and, 
as by law provided, they called upon the Board of Educa- 
tion for assistance. An examination of the statute showed 
that, while school buildings owned by the city might undoubt- 
edly be repaired or improved by an expenditure of the public 
money, the case was far from certain when the buildings were 
the property of a private corporation, and might possibly be 
directed to other uses. As the law forbade them to huild any 
more houses, the trustees had extended yet further their pri- 
mary system by hiring premises and opening five additional 
schools. This was considered by the Board of Education as 
an evasion of the statute, the five schools were pronounced 
illegal, and the support asked for their maintenance was re- 
fused. Both parties again sought the Legislature, and a com- 
promise was effected by an act, passed in 1848, admitting the 
five primaries to participation, but distinctly forbidding the 
opening or establishing of any kind of new school in any way 
whatsoever without consent of the Board of Education. 

Meanwhile this latter body made still further advances in 
the development and improvement of the general system. 

' See the following table, which also exhibits the rapid advance of the Ward 
Schools after the first four or five years: 



AVKRAGE ATTENDANCE. 



Year, 



]S4'2 
lS4;i 
1S44 
1S45 
184I1 
1847 



WAiin 


PlTHUO 




SOIIOOI.8. 


Schools. 







15,420 




2,07'.) 


15,9:!S 




c,soi; 


15,>.)7S 




7,522 


1C>,G02 




8,7'.):? 


I7,r>ns 




11,538 


1S,C4G 





y EAU. 



184S 
1S49 
18.50 
IS.-)! 
1S52 



Ward 

Schools 



14,n.'>> 
15,Si).'. 
1S7I7 
21,21-> 



Pirituo 
Schools. 



18,587 
18,1.53 
19,292 
19,717 
19,315 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. 10 

In 1847 four new schooMiouses of three departments each, and 
of better construction, had been built, and rapidly filled. Early 
in the same year a committee was appointed to inquire into 
the expediency of applying to the Legislature " for the pas- 
sage of a law authorizing the establishment of a High School 
or College for the benefit of pupils who have been educated 
in the public schools of the city and county." On the 20th 
of January of the same year a report was presented "recom- 
mending that the Board should take the necessary steps to 
establish a Free College or Academy, and provide for the 
appointment of a committee to draft a memorial to the Legis- 
lature in accordance therewith. This report was adopted, 
and the committee thereupon appointed presented a memori- 
al, which was approved by the Board, and forwarded in its 
name to the Legislature. This memorial states that ' one ob- 
ject of the proposed free institution is to create an additional 
interest in, and more completely popularize the Common 
Schools. It is believed that they will be regarded with ad- 
ditional favor, and attended with increased satisfaction when 
the pupils and their parents feel that the children who have 
received their primary education in these schools can be ad- 
mitted to all the benefits and advantages furnished by the 
best endowed college in the state without any expense what- 
ever.' The Legislature responded by the passage of a law 
authorizing the Free Academy, giving the Board of Educa- 
tion absolute power ' to direct the course of studies therein,' 
and providing that the question of establishing the same 
should be submitted to the vote of the people. The question 
was so submitted, and the result was 19,404 in favor of the 
Free Academy to 3409 against it."* 

The anticipated influence of the new institution was fully 
realized. Thousands who had heretofore held aloof from all 
public schools now sent their children, and, in consequence, 
took direct and active interest in school affairs, and in the se- 
lection of proper parties for their management. It was soon 
seen that much more school accommodation would be necessa- 

' Reports of the Board of Education, 1847, 1848, IS.'G. 



70 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ry. Accordingly, in 1819, three additional school buildings 
were opened, and at the same time introduced a new order 
of school structures. They were of much greater size, so that 
nearly two thous^md children could be accommodated in a 
single building,' while their attractive and conspicuous ap- 
pearance at once arrested the attention of the passer-by. 
They were the first of that magnificent series of buildings for 
the people's children which now tower aloft in so many parts 
of our city ; plain and substantial, yet significant exponents 
of the appreciation in which the people hold the educational 
system which they subserve. The attractions of the interior 
have already been indicated in the sweeping changes which 
they forced upon the schools of the Public School Society. 

The difficulties of the Society still continued to accumu- 
late, notwithstanding tlie consummate skill, economy, and 
prudence with which its affairs were managed. The table 
already given eloquently testifies to the ability that, in old 
and how unsightly and dilapidated buildings, yet held fast 
their total average attendance, and even added largely to 
it, although some of their schools were depleted by their 
near and more magnificent neighbors. The furniture was 
old and worn-out, or had been only partly replaced by the 
more expensive and now indispensable stj'les with which 
their rivals were fitted. One of their largest and best school- 
houses had been burned to the ground, and, with the other 
extra appropriations required, the Board of Education could 
not assist them to a greater extent than $8000 in its recon- 
struction. A committee was appointed to make inquiry, 
and to report as to " which of their schools did not pay the 
cost of their maintenance." First one and then another of 
these were sold in order to assist in carrying forward the 
others. Lar2;e mortgao-es had also from time to time been 
effected upon their real estate, and the annual interest upon 
these, with the rents required for man}'- of their primaries, to- 
gether formed a heavy and increasing burden. The annual 

' There are now some buildings in which from twelve to fifteen bun Jrcd 
children may be seen cacli morning in the rnmary Department al()iie. 



BOARD OF EDUCATIOX, ETC. 77 

deficiencies became more and more discouraging, and the 
necessary appeals to the Board of Education more frequent 
and importunate. Assistance was rendered as far as seemed 
consonant to the laws and to the interests of the subject of 
their common efforts, and in accordance with the great trust 
committed to the charge of the Board. A question soon arose 
as to the legal right of the Board of Education to provide for 
the large annual interest required by the mortgages. A brief 
investigation was sufficient to establish the fact that they had 
neither legal nor moral right to carry the chronic encum- 
brances of a private corporation whose property, whatever 
the character of its present members, might at some time be 
diverted to other uses not in accordance with the purposes for 
which it was designed, and to which it ha'd so long been hon- 
orably and faithfully devoted. 

The inevitable and final result was already foreshadow- 
ed. As early as 1848, in the able report of Superintendent 
M'Keon, whose sound judgment, and long connection with 
both systems, entitled his views to consideration, may be 
found the thought toward which all minds were steadily 
gravitating. After referring to the fact that in the earlier 
years, and while the new system was struggling against the 
difficulties and prejudices which beset it, "recommendations 
had several times emanated from previous city superintend- 
ents to put all schools into the charge of the Public School 
Society, ' subject to the Board of Education, through the hands 
of which alone its funds could be received,' " he saj^s, " This 
suggestion was not heeded, and never will ie. * * * * I 
venture to suggest a modification of the laws by a compro- 
mise^ so as to merge the two systems. * " * * The wisdom and 
experience of that venerable body will be needed in the re- 
organization, both for guidance and for co-operation.'" 

' In his report for 1851, Mr. M'Keon speaks of the Public School Society as 
follows: "The men who founded that society were men who loved their spe- 
cies and country. Their schools have done much for a numerous class of 
persons who are now among us to speak their eulogium. But it is not in con- 
sonance with the voice of an intelligent community that a voluntary and cor- 
porate body should assume or perform the functions of the citizens at large, ex- 



78 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

There was nothing in the official relations and intercourse 
of the two bodies to forbid so desirable a combination. Al- 
though themselves limited bj the laws under which they 
were organized, the Board of Education from time to time, 
to the extent of their ability, and as far as was consistent 
with those great interests which were more especially com- 
mitted to their care, had advanced the required funds, and 
assisted to meet the ever-recurring deficiencies. The Public 
School Society had again and again generously reciprocated 
in whatever could be made to advance the common interests 
of the schools. They had granted the use of their buildings 
to the Board for evening schools, and had thrown open the 
doors of their Saturday Normal Schools to all of the teachers 
of the Ward Schools who might choose to enter. In their 
report for 1850 they rejoice at the spirit of liberality shown 
in the new style of school-houses, and say that they would 
themselves have done the same if" they had the means. They 
frankly state that in their opinion " the existing competition, 
if it may be called such, has already been an advantage to 
the public." In an earlier report they compliment certain of 
the Ward Schools for their efficiency, and "look upon the 
Board of Education and its teachers as coadjutors rather than 
competitors, and have therefore given the use of a room in 
the trustees' hall for the Ward School Teachers' Association," 
With these and many other indications of a spirit of mutual 
good feeling, it was not a difficult matter for them to take 
into serious consideration the expediency of a closer union of 
their efforts. 

The first move came, as it should have done, from the 

cept in cases of extreme dereliction on the part of tlie public. However bencfi- 
cient their purposes, and however wise, from experience, the members of a 
society may become, there are many equally good and honest men who will 
doubt the policy of committing so great a matter as the education of the ma- 
jority of the children of the whole community to an incorporated society over 
whose doings they have no direct control. It has been fortunate for the people 
of this city that men of pure intention have continued to control the councils 
of this great Society xintil other municipal and state provisions are made for 
the education of a huge portion of the children of this community." 



BOARD OF EDUCATIOjST, ETC. 79 

younger body, which at this time contained several members 
who were or had been members of the Public School Society, 
and were familiar with its history and position. 

"At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the 
Public School Society, convened January 26, 1852, the fol- 
lowing communication from a Committee of the Board of Edu- 
cation was read, and, on motion, ordered on record. 

"To George T. Trimble, President of the Public School Society. 

"Sir — At a meeting of the Board of Education, held 
on Wednesday evening last, the following resolution was 
adopted, viz., ' Resolved, that a committee of three members 
of this Board be appointed to confer with a Committee of the 
Public School Society for the purpose of effecting a union 
of the two systems of education.' 

" Whereupon William H. Hibbard, Samuel A. Crapo, and 
Edward L. Beadle were appointed as said committee. 

" Will you, sir, be pleased to lay this subject before the 
body over whom you preside, and signify to them the hope 
on our part that a similar committee will be appointed on 
their part, and advise us of the result at your earliest con- 
venience? 

" Yery respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" William H. Hibbard, Chairman. 

"Saturday, January 24, 1852." 

'. ^ ) . 

The subject was discussed at length, and President Trim- 
ble, together with Messrs. Peter Cooper and Joseph B. Col- 
lins, were appointed a committee to confer with the Commit- 
tee of the Board of Education.^ 

At the same meeting the Executive Committee were au- 
thorized to invite the Board of Education, which hitherto 
had no suitable meeting-place, to make use of the Trustees, 

' Minutes of the Board of Trustees. The committees were soon after en- 
larged by the appointment of Messrs. Gary, Carter, and Waterbury on the part 
<if the Board of Education, and Messrs. Depeyster and Pierson by the Public 
School Trustees. ■ 



80 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Boom for that purpose. It is unnecessary to trace other 
than in outline the steps following one taken in such a 
spirit. 

At an adjourned meeting, called soon after to consider 
the present position of the Society, the Secretary Stated that 
the deficiency would be $32,000 more than the appropriation. 
After much discussion and another meeting, it was resolved 
to raise $iO,000 by new mortgages. 

At a special meeting, September 17, 1852, called to con- 
sider the financial condition of the Society, and to receive the 
report of the Committee of Conference, the Treasurer's Re- 
port was read, and then that of the Committee. Several mo- 
tions were made without definite action. A very prolonged 
debate ensued, and a motion to lay the whole subject on the 
table failed. It was finally ^'■Resolved, that in view of their 
present circumstances, the Board of Trustees of the Public 
School Society are in favor of a union with the Ward School 
system, provided they can be equitably represented in the 
management of all of the Common Schools of the city." 

On the 15th of October, the following propositions, which 
had been unanimously agreed upon in the combined commit- 
tee, were presented to the Board of Trustees, and were sub- 
stantially those which were finally the conditions of union. 

1st. The Public School Society to transfer to the city all 
the real and personal estate now held by said Society, sub- 
ject to all debts, liens, and encumbrances thereon, the pay- 
ment of which shall be assumed by the city ; the property so 
conveyed to be forever devoted to the purposes of public 
education, 

2d, Said Society to surrender and discontinue its organi- 
zation and existence. 

3d. Previous to the dissolution of said Society, it may se- 
lect and appoint fifteen of its trustees to be Commissioners at 
large of the Common Schools, who shall serve as such during 
the continuance in ofiice of the members of the present Board 
of Education, 

4th. The said Society shall in the same manner appoint 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. 81 

three of its members in each ward, who shall be Trustees of 
Common Schools for the wards, and shall serve till January 
1, 1855, 1856, and 1857, respectively. 

If these propositions pass both Boards, the draft of a law 
shall be presented to the Legislature for consummating the 
union on the basis of this programme.^ 

The propositions were accepted, and the law drafted ; and 
on the 19th of January, the whole body of the Society itself 
being assembled — the previous actions having been those of 
its trustees — the proposed act was read, and a resolution, with 
a very full preamble, adopted, conferring upon the trustees 
full power to effect the proposed transfer.^ 

The act was passed June 4, 1853, and the necessary steps 
rapidly followed. After raising the salaries of some of their 
teachers whose interests j ustly required this while the matter 
was ^et in the control of the trustees, the fifteen commis- 
sioners and the trustees for the various wards were elected, 
and " this Board now adjourns sine die and /oreyer.'" 

The members present, in accordance with due notice given, 
at once reorganized as a meeting of the Society itself, the deeds 
conveying the property were produced and examined, and a 
resolution passed to adjourn to a final meeting on Friday the 
29th at 4 P.M. At this last, an eloquent address, suitable to 
so memorable an occasion, was delivered by Hiram Ketchum, 
Esq., and the votes of thanks to the President and Secretary 

' Minutes of the Trustees : the corresponding minutes of the Board of Edu- 
cation are essentially identical. 

" The long and full minutes of this meeting are very interesting, and show, 
as might well be anticipated, that a powerful corporation of nearly a half-cen- 
tury's activity was not ready to resign its existence, and its noble functions 
and trust, without evidences that the sacrifice was a very painful one. The 
preamble, after setting forth the legal history of the Society from its founda- 
tion, declares that they yield to necessity, and not to the conviction of their 
best judgment ; and therefore authorize their committee to effect the necessary 
steps, and " hereby confirm all that they may do as if it were done by them- 
selves." 

^ One can hardly read these words, written in large hand in the minutes of 
the last meeting of this useful body of veterans, without a feeling of regret at 
the necessary dissolution of so noble an organization. 

F 



82 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

were responded to by brief and appropriate replies. On mo- 
tion, President George T. Trimble, and the agent of the So- 
ciety, Mr. Samuel W. Seton, were authorized to place at the 
disposal of a competent writer such documents in possession 
of the Society as may serve to illustrate its rise, progress, and 
history, 

A resolution was then passed, " that the Books of Minutes 
of the Society, the Board of Trustees, and the Executive and 
other Committees, together with all documents, etc., etc., be 
deposited with the New York Ilistorical Society."* 

And the resolution came at last, " that this Society do now 
adjourn." 

Thus, by a voluntary surrender, terminated the separate 
corporate existence of a society without parallel in the annals 
of education. In the sketch that has been given, at least two 
important departments of its labors have been but briefly and 
inadequately referred to — the education of neglected chil- 
dren, and the relations of religious to popular and secular in- 
struction. These will be considered in separate articles, and 
can not be omitted in forming a just estimate of the services 
of this useful body of men. 

AVhcn we reflect upon the amount of labor which nearly 
half a century of vigilance and activity involved, the skill 
and prudence with which they conducted an enterprise in- 
volving questions of such magnitude, responsibility, and deli- 

" Tlie History of the Society, written by tlie party selected, is uiulerstood to 
iiave been long in manuscript, but, for some reason, has never come to light. 
The valuable llecords ordered to be deposited with the Ilistorical Society did 
not reach this their selected and appropriate resting-place nntil late in the 
spring of the present year, 18G8, and the effort to obtain access to them has 
long delayed this report. Intensely occui)ied with other and exhausting labor, 
the compiler of the foregoing sketch had no opportunity to consult them till the 
heats of June and July had come. The enormous amount of manuscript to 
be gone over at such a time, conijirising very full minutes, accumulating dur- 
ing the half of a centur}', and the brief time which could be given to the work 
will, it is hoped, be a sufficient excuse for sueh errors as have no doubt been 
made in the sketch. There was little time, there was no guide such as the 
promised " History" could have afforded, and only those who have performed 
similar labor under like difficulties can realize its vast amount. 



BOARD OF EDUCATION, ETC. 83 

cacj — the valuable time given tlirougli so long a series of 
years by men whose business relations made time precious, 
with no recompense other than the consciousness of duty per- 
formed, and the gratifying evidences that their labor was not 
in vain — when we remember that millions of the public 
money passed through their hands, and not one dollar had 
ever been diverted from its legitimate service, and that at 
the close of their long service, and notwithstanding their em- 
barrassments, they transferred to the control of the Board of 
Education property valued at over $600,000, and which, 
^hen every liability was discharged, still amounted to nearlj' 
half a million — when we consider that through their instru- 
mentality not less than 600,000 youth had been instructed, 
and over one thousand two hundred teachers educated and 
trained to service, we can not but feel that every friend of 
popular instruction and every lover of his race must hold 
this remarkable Society in grateful remembrance. 

Their shortcomings, such as they were, were compara- 
tively trifling, "and e'en their failings leaned to virtue's side." 
Beginning with a generous effort to give the simplest rudi- 
ments of an education to the poor and the outcast, ever the 
chief objects of their solicitude, many of the members were 
to the last practically unable to recognize the real wants or 
to sympathize with the advancing demands of the general 
public. The progressive element of the Society was too 
muoh held in check by these conscientious, well-intentioned, 
conservatives. Chiefly consisting of that valuable class, suc- 
cessful business men, who know how to unite private person- 
al generosity with careful business thrift and economic ex- 
penditure, their sense of responsibility in spending the peo- 
ple's money, and their anxiety to make a comparatively small 
sum benefit the largest possible number, led to a policy to- 
ward their employes which plainly indicated their opinion 
that they had no right to be generous. Yet no one could 
charge them with favoritism; and as the appointing power 
controlled the whole field of the city, decided talent met a 
ready recognition in rapid promotion. As has been justly 



8i HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

said by higli authority, " They have imposed upon this city 
a debt of gratitude that can never be fitly estimated, much 
less repaid. Their inventories, vouchers, documents, and re- 
ports have been properly deposited with the New York His- 
torical Society, but history can never tell how much these 
unostentatious details have contributed to the safety, prosper- 
ity, and glory of this great metropolitan city."^ 

* Speculations as to the possible history of education in the city of New York, 
liad the Public School Society never been organized, would of course be out of 
place in a report, and could not detract from the value of their services. As 
a specimen of their work, the compiler would state from his own personal 
knowledge, that in 1835, in a ninth class of thirty-two boys, there were tw8 
future judges of the Supreme Court, at least one member of the Legislature, e. 
City Register, several principals and assistants, and one Assistant City Super- 
intendent of Schools, one clergyman, and three or four highly successful mer- 
chants. These were nearly all sons of men who earned their bread by daily 
toil. Many similar examples might no doubt be cited. 



BOARD OF EDUCATION. 85' 



XIII. 

BOARD OF EDUCATION. 

1853-1868. 

Beneficial Results of the Consolidation. — Measures of the Board. — Influence 
of the Representatives of the Society. — Depository System. — Extension 
of Normal School System. — Superintendent's Powers increased. — Re- 
building of old School-houses. — General Introduction of Music. — Effects 
of the recent War on Teachers' Salaries. — Other Expenses of the Board. 
— Patriotic Spirit of the Schools, and of the Community they represent. — 
Amendments of the Law. — Increased Powers of the Board. — Present Con- 
stitution of the Board of Education, and of the various local Bodies. 

The history of the Board of Education during the years 
subsequent to the combination of the two systems of schools is 
not marked by any striking events, or by any bitter religious 
controversy. Though a period of even greater activity than 
any preceding, its vast operations have been quietly carried 
on, and all parts of the system have manifested a steadily in- 
creasing eSiciency. 

. The beneficial results of the union soon justified the antici- 
pations of a new era in the history of the schools of the city. 
The gentlemen selected by the Society as its representatives 
both in the local boards and in the central one, were trained 
veterans in school matters, and thoroughly understood the im- 
portance of prompt action, and of ingrafting the results of 
their experience ere yet the brief three years of their legal con- 
nection with the schools should terminate. Eespected and 
prominent members of the community at large, strong not only 
in their character but in their numbers, and in an essential 
unity of views and purposes, their unquestioned ability and 
long experience at once secured to them a leading influence in 
directing the legislation of the Board. There were now under 
its control, besides the ten corporate schools entitled to partici- 



86 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

pate, the Free Academy, three Normal Schools, forty-six large 
schools, nearly all having three departments each, fifty-six Pri- 
maries, and nine Colored Schools; making, in all, two hundred 
and twenty-four schools, with an aggregate annual attendance 
of nearly forty-four thousand. As one of the first measures, 
the schools were all renumbered, the schools of the Public 
School Society retaining, in most cases, their old numbers, but 
changing their title to Ward Schools, the schools established 
by the Board taking the numbers following. This preserved 
a certain historic identity and continuity, and is one of many 
indications that the Board of Education, the legal successors of 
the Society, was to identify its history with their history, and 
to recognize its origin as in one sense the primal form of their 
own organization. The term Ward School was soon after ex- 
changed for Grammar School. 

Up to this period the several wards had purchased their own 
supplies, all books and other necessary school material being 
furnished to the pupils, as in the Public Schools, free of all ex- 
pense. But the Society had great advantages in the economy 
of supplies, as all were purchased by a special committee, 
and upon requisition made at the general Depository, distrib- 
uted at stated times, and under stringent regulations, to the 
several departments. The same system was now made gener- 
al. The old Depository in the Trustees' Ilall, now the Hall 
of the Board, was enlarged and stocked, pass-books for the 
monthly requisitions furnished, each order to be signed by the 
principal of the department, and approved by the proper ward 
officers, andan exact account kept of the supplies furnished, and 
the cost thereof to each school — the amount to be limited b}'' 
a " tariff of supplies " annually furnished as a part of the by- 
laws, and based upon the annual average attendance and the 
general experience as to the quantity of each of the several 
articles required. The order being sent to the Depository- 
clerk, the supplies were delivered at the several schools on a 
day fixed in the by-laws, the city being divided into conven- 
ient districts for the purpose. This valuable and indispensa- 
ble system, applied to every school from the Free College to 



BOAED OF EDUCATION. 87 

the smallest Primary, remains essentially as it was introduced, 
with such improvements as time and experience have indica- 
ted. 

This reform was one of the first of a series of measures 
acknowledged necessary by general consent, and leading to a 
farther and farther departure from the original Ward School 
system, in which each ward was in nearly every respect inde- 
pendent of all others, and by which, though all drew from the 
common purse, there was no uniformity in the ^proportionate 
amount expended. 

Another important measure was the enlargement of the 
Normal School accommodations and the passage of by-laws es- 
tablishing a Normal School Committee, and enforcing the at- 
tendance of teachers under conditions analogous, as far as the 
difference of circumstances would admit, to those which had 
previously applied to the Public Schools only. Provision ' 
was also made for an annual graduation of qualified pupils, 
based upon an examination of the school, conducted by the 
City Superintendent and under the supervision of the com- 
mittee. The attendance soon rose in the Female Saturday 
Normal School from about two hundred to nearly six hun- 
dred, the Male Normal School and the School for Colored 
Teachers receiving proportionate accessions. The term nor- 
mal, which early attached to these institutions, was not well 
chosen, as no normal instruction was givfen. They were really 
supplementary schools for teachers who did not hold the high- 
est grade of certificates as to scholarship. In their way, they 
did a good work and continued in existence for several years, 
till their graduallj'- declining numbers, the result, in part, of the 
large graduating classes, and the unpopularity of the coercive 
element, led to their abolition. A year or two's experience, 
however, pointed out the necessity of their restoration ; and, in 
a greatly modified form, with a true and growing normal el- 
ement, and the coercive principle applied only to a very lim- 
ited class, they have been reopened with a larger and volun- 
tary attendance, and are doing far more service than ever be- 
fore. They will be again briefly alluded to in this report. 



88 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

A third measure of yet greater importance in its perma- 
nent results was the remodeling of the system of general su- 
pervision by the Superintendent's Department. There had 
hitherto been only one such officer with very limited powers, 
and the peculiar relations of the Board of Education to the 
Public School Society had deprived his duties of the full 
measure of their usefulness. A chief Superintendent, with 
more extended powers, was now appointed, with a proper 
corps of assistants, and provision made for a frequent and 
stated examination into all the minutise of every school and 
department by the examination of classes of every grade, 
the inspection of the records, the discipline and the sanitary 
condition of the schools, and inquiry as to compliance with 
the by-laws and regulations of the Board. The examina- 
tions, licensing, and grading of teachers were also placed in 
the hands of this important officer. The systematic and 
minute inspection thus provided for has contributed, at least, 
as much as any other agency in advancing* and securing the 
high standard of efi&ciency which now characterizes our city 
schools. 

In consequence of the dilapidated condition of most of the 
school-houses transferred by the Public School Society, and 
of their general unfitness by size and construction for the pur- 
poses of a system of education so different from that for which 
they were originally Erected, the Board were obliged, through 
a series of years, to expend large sums of money in rebuild- 
ing or remodeling such houses, and thus equalizing as far as 
possible the advantages offered to the citizens in all sections. 
Besides this, the general growth of the city demanded more 
and more school accommodations ; a demand greatly enhanced 
by the gratifying fact that the growth of school attendance 
was vastly in advance of that of the city itself. While, in the 
ten years preceding the union of the two systems, the popula- 
tion of the city had increased sixty per cent., the attendance 
at the common school had increased about one hundred and 
twenty per cent. The houses now constructed, whether on 
the old or on new sites, were of substantial and superior char- 



BOARD OF EDUCATION. 89 

acter, and possessed of every advantage of arrangement and 
furniture. 

In 1855 piano-fortes were introduced into tlie Boys' and 
Primary Departments and Primary Schools, having hereto- 
fore been provided in part only for the female departments. 
This step has greatly influenced the discipline of the schools, 
and rendered them pleasant, cheerful, and attractive, besides 
introducing a beneficial vocal training. 

It is not necessary to follow in detail the various measures 
of the Board during the fifteen years following the consolida- 
tion. The era of improvement at that time begun, by no 
means ceased with the years in which it was initiated. On 
the contrary, each succeeding year has witnessed more or 
less of improvement in some one or more departments of 
the service, in no case more decided and general than in 
the one or two years immediately preceding the date of this 
report. 

Two very important series of changes, however, demand 
a share of attention — the first of these resulting from the gen- 
eral rise of the prices of labor and all commodities, and the 
second from modifications of the organic law of the schools. 

At the commencement of the recent war, the highest sala- 
ry paid to any male principal was fifteen hundred, and to the 
female principal eight hundred dollars ; to the various grades 
of assistants, from one thousand down to one hundred and 
fifty dollars. These rates of compensation were less than 
those allowed for corresponding positions in several other 
cities of inferior financial ability, and for services of no higher 
order in schools and classes averaging only from one-half to 
two-thirds the number in attendance. Besides this, even at 
that time the expenses of living in this city were largely in 
advance of those in any other, so that the actual compensation 
was practically much below its seeming proportionate amount. 
The effects of the war upon the remuneration of the teachers 
were greatly detrimental. It was not till nearly or quite 
every other form of labor was receiving double its former pay 
that the Board was enabled to increase the compensation of 



90 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

these its faithful servants. The city had continued to in- 
crease in population, and the demand for more school accom- 
modation was imperative. Limited for its entire multiform 
expenses to a certain sum, it was not at once in the power of 
the Board to do full justice to its employ &. An increase of 
about twenty, and finally about fifty per cent., was effected 
during the war, followed quite recently, and for similar and 
pressing reasons, by further advances. The salaries of the 
teachers and janitors of the Grammar and Primary Schools, 
exclusive of the Free Academy, the Evening and the Normal 
Schools, had risen from $703,962 in 1860 to $1,844,865 in 
1865, and to $1,603,018 in 1867, or nearly 128 per cent. A 
part of this increase was due to the increase of the num- 
ber of teachers from 1548 in 1860 to 2514 in 1867 ; but 
the chief cause was the generally and justly advanced com- 
pensation of all grades of instructors, whose individual sal- 
aries even yet, vast as they are in the aggregate, are by no 
means beyond a reasonable rate, as an inspection of the table 
will show.' 

The same general cause has affected in an equal, and in 
some cases in even a greater degree, the other necessary ex- 
penses of the Board. The greater number of schools and of 
pupils taught accounts, in part, for the advance, but the gen- 
eral rise of prices is its cBief element. The whole number 
taught in 1860 was 153,582 ; in 1867, 208,620— an increase of 
over 36 percent. ; while the sworn average attendance for 1860 
was 58,605, that for 1867 was 90,183 — an increase of over 54 
per cent. It may be remarked incidentally, that a compari- 
son of these figures, and especially the very much greater pro- 
portionate increase in the attendance, is testimony of the 
highest order as to that steady and quiet advance in the effi- 
ciency of the system which has already been referred to as 
characterizing this period in the history of the Board. 

The total cost of books and other supplies furnished has 
in like manner been enhanced, even after making all due al- 
lowance for the increased number of pupils. The supplies 

' See By-law on Teachers' Salaries. 



BOARD OF EDUCATION. 91 

are obtained, as by law provided, " by contract, proposals for 
which shall be advertised for the period of at least two weeks." 
The supplies for 1860 for all the various schools cost $73,845, 
while in 1867 they amounted to $184,370, being an increase 
of $110,525, or nearly 150 per cent. 

This is not the place for a complete exhibit such as could 
readily be made of the application of the same law and cause 
of increase to every other department of the expenditures. 
The enhanced prices of the real estate from time to time need- 
ed for school sites ; the great advances brought about by so 
many causes in the price of labor and materials employed in 
construction of new school buildings, and in the extensive 
repairs, additions, and alterations found necessary in furnish- 
ing more and more room in the old ones ; the supply of fuel, 
and the many incidental expenses of the Board — each and 
all of these has felt the effects of the general financial condi- 
tion of the country, and has unavoidably and greatly increased 
the aggregate expenditure ; so that while the sum raised for 
school purposes in 1860 amounted to $1,278,781, it had risen 
in 1867 to $2,892,393. 

Should we add to the expenditures of 1860 as much as 54 
per cent, the proportion of increased attendance, the cost of 
the schools in 1867 at the rates of 1860 would have amount- 
ed to $1,969,323. Subtracting this from the actual expend- 
iture for 1867, and we have $923,070 as the increase due to 
advanced prices and compensation, an estimate which is evi- 
dently too low, as the difference in teachers' and janitors' 
wages alone in the years 1862 and 1868 amounts to no less 
than $902,620— the total expense for 1868 not materially dif- 
fering from the amount raised in 1867. Should we, however, 
add only 36 per cent., the rate of increase in the whole num- 
ber taught, there would remain $1,153,251 increase due to 
the advance of the prices and compensation of 1867 over 1860 
-^of which, as we have seen, about $900,000 is due to the in- 
crease of salaries of teachers and janitors' alone. 

This subject has here been briefly considered on account 
of its prominence and importance among matters of educa- 



92 HISTORY OF rUliLIC EDUCATION. 

tional interest, as exhibiting the financial effects of the war 
upon onr Public School system. 

In the multiplied duties which during the war devolved 
upon the various classes of citizens of the republic, we are 
proud to know that our schools and their teachers were not 
less zealous than those of any other community in our land. 
Many of our teachers and older pupils, in every mihtary 
rank from private to general, hazarded or lost life or limb to 
maintain the integrity of their country. Long, indeed, is the 
sad yet glorious roll of names rendered forever sacred by the 
seal of their blood. The cannon-shot of Sumter awoke no 
louder echoes throughout our land than those that reverber- 
ated through the streets of the metropolis. No one who wit- 
nessed the enthusiasm of the memorable three days which 
succeeded, could ever doubt the loyalty and patriotism of the 
masses of our citizens. Each volunteer regiment had its full 
proportion of young men recently from our common schools, 
and iired with the spirit of patriotic devotion which they 
have ever inculcated.' And when the time came, as come 
full soon it did, that little hearts and little fingers had sad 
and loving work to do for the brave men who had been 
stricken down by the iron storm, or by the exposures of camp 
and field life, the grand army of school-boys and school- 
girls of the city of New York, under their teachers' guidance 
and example, did their full share in a spirit of love and grat- 
itude, and of tender sympathy and self-denying and patriotic 
devotion, that gave sure indication of the soundness of their 
training in the schools of the people, and which will yet bear 
precious fruit in the long years to come. In sanitary fairs, 
in hospital contributions and services, in comforts and con- 
veniences for the camp and the march, and in all their obli- 
gations and duties to the defenders of their country, our 

' In the first rcfjimcnt tlmt started from the city the coin]uler recognized 
over tlilrty young men who were personally known to liini as once pupils in 
the city schools, and afterward saw quite as large a proportion in other regi- 
nHJnts. Many other old teachers saw in the same regiments equal or greater 
numbers wlio had once been under their instruction. 



BOARD OF EDUCATION. 93 

scliools bore their full part and were a ready and ever- 
willing organization for generous collections of money and 
materials from every class in the community. No one could 
see the nation's flag waving over every school edifice, and 
their rooms dressed with the same sacred emblem, all at their 
own expense and at their own demand — no one could visit 
the morning assemblages in their large halls, and hear hun- 
dreds of young voices singing, with no feigned lips, hymns 
and songs of patriotic devotion — no one could become famil- 
iar with the earnest spirit manifested by these institutions, 
without being convinced that, in the grand lessons of love 
of country, they abundantly repaid all their cost, and that 
by these more than by any other agency was the future con- 
tinuance of the republic to be secured. 

The second of the series of changes already referred to are 
those arising from modifications of the organic law of the 
school system of the city. The Act of 1842, and the various 
subsequent amendments, left the powers of the several orders 
of school officers somewhat indefinite or conflicting. An ap- 
plication of the general state law established each ward as an 
independent district ; and while it conferred on the Board of 
Education power to make general rules and regulations, it 
did not so sharply define its prerogatives as to enable it to 
compel compliance. Though many improvements were made 
and general regulations enacted especially after the combina- 
tion of the two systems of schools, yet whatever of compli- 
ance there was arose chiefly from an experience of their ne- 
cessity, and from the marked good sense manifested by most 
of the local boards. 

The power of appointment and dismissal of teachers, of pro- 
curing supplies, of assigning salaries, of granting holidays, of 
controlling expenditures for repairs, cleaning, building, fuel, 
and nearly every other form of outlay, all these were claimed 
both by the Ward Boards and by the Board of Education, 
and led to much confusion and irregularity, and to great in- 
equalities in the distribution of advantages to different sec- 
tions of the city, though all were sustained by the common 



94 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

treasury. Some boards were nearly or quite indifferent as to 
the interests committed to their charge, while others, by vari- 
ous means, obtained undue advantages. The members of the 
Board of Education itself being ex officio members of the 
boards in their several wards, naturally looked more to the 
local interests which they specially represented than to those 
more general ones for which they were nominally chosen. 
The powers confided to the inspectors, though seemingly 
very extensive and searching, were really nullified by the 
fact that they were powerless to effect any reforms or to ex- 
ert any check upon the expenditures of the local boards, had 
they seen fit to attempt it. In some few sections members 
of the local boards treated their teachers with great injustice, 
or were guilty of gross irregularities, the exposure of which 
not only brought the just indignation of the community upon 
the few who deserved it, but also involved in unmerited oblo- 
quy or unjust suspicion men of a far different stamp, whose 
duties had ever been uprightly and wisely performed, and 
who were entitled, by their uncompensated labors, to the 
respect and gratitude of all good citizens. Of course, the en- 
emies of the system and a class of reckless writers for the 
public journals made the most of these scandals, and contrived 
to leave in a great number of minds an impression that evils, 
which were really exceptional and local, were more or less 
general. Yet the system under which such irregularities 
could arise was evidently in fault, and, in consequence, vari- 
ous successive amendments were made to the school law, con- 
ferring upon the Board of Education more definite power to 
remedy such abuses by the prompt dismission of the offend- 
ers — a power which they have not hesitated promptly to use 
in all cases where their interference was needed. 

On the 25th of April, 1864, the Legislature passed an act 
which has already done very much to bring the entire system 
into full harmony and unity, and to remove nearly all, and 
certainly the chief sources of difficulty. The lower business 
wards, having a few small schools, with a limited number of 
pupils, had heretofore been equally represented in the Board 



BOARD 01* EDUCATION. 95 

of Education with wards that educated several thousands of 
children. This inequality, as well as the injurious identifi- 
cation of the members of the Board with the several boards 
of trustees, was removed by dividing the city into seven 
school districts of nearly equal school population, each of 
which sends three commissioners to the Board of Education. 
These commissioners hold office for three years, one going out 
of office, and his successor being elected each year. The 
Board, therefore, consists of twenty-one members, instead of 
the previous number of forty-four, or two from each ward. 
This smaller number is a decided gain, in the efficiency of 
its working, while at the same time the members being no 
longer ex officio members of the local boards, are not so closely 
identified with narrow local intejests. The extension of the 
term of office from two years to three, and the loss of only 
one-third of the Board at the end of each year, insures an ex- 
perienced majority in all its deliberations. 

The 'local boards of trustees were in the same manner 
improved by being reduced from eight members — ten, with 
the two commissioners — to five, one elected each year, and 
holding office for five years. 

The inspectors, clothed with new and enlarged powers and 
made equal in number to the commissioners, hold office for 
the same time, and represent corresponding districts ; but in 
place of being elected by the people, are nominated by the 
mayor, and elected by the Board of Education. 

An abstract of the law will be found in this report, and 
to this reference is made for the details of the organization 
and powers both of the central and local boards. 



96 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



XIV. 

THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 

Religious teaching in the Dutch Period. — Purposes of the Free School Society 
at its Foundation. — Influence of the Friends. — Voluntary Association of 
fifty Ladies. — Religious Census of Schools. — Special moral Instruction 
ordered in 1819.— Visit of Moffit and Sommerfield in 1820.— Address 
of Moffit. — Non-sectarian Catechism and Scripture Lessons. — Bethel 
Baptist Church, and the Controversy of 1822. — Controversy of 1832, and 
Admission of Orphan Asylums to Participation. — Controversy of 
l84:0-'42. — Remarkable Excitement. — Expurgation of School-books. — 
Law of 1842 establishes the Board of Education. — The present Condition 
of the Question. 

The Dutcli colonists, as we have already seen, made relig- 
ious sectarian teaching an essential part of the work of their 
public school. " The Heidelberg Catechism, the Articles of 
Eeligion, and instruction in the Holy Scriptures," claimed 
equal attention with reading and writing. The school of the 
Eeformed Dutch Church has of course continued to teach its 
distinctive faith; and in the latter half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury follows, as the " good old waj'-," the custom established 
early in the seventeenth. 

The subject of special religious instruction to children on 
the ordinary school-days of the week first became a matter 
of importance, so far as the design of this report is concerned, 
upon the. establishment of the Free School Society in 1805. 
The historic and legal position of this society, as the prede- 
cessor, the associate, and finally, though briefly, as an organic 
part of the Board of Education, the long period during which 
it represented all there was of instruction at the public ex- 
pense, and more especially the successive struggles in which 
it was forced to engage in defending or enforcing its views on 
this subject as well as the influence which partly, through the 
force of traditional usage, it continued to exert upon many of 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 97 

our city schools long after its own legal existence had termi- 
nated, all these and yet other considerations, give this society 
great prominence in a review of the development of the prin- 
ciples underlying the question of religious instruction in the 
Common Schools. 

It has already been noticed that the original title of the so- 
ciety implied the importance of religious and moral instruc- 
tion — " for the education of such poor children as do not be- 
long to any religious society." The well known character 
of the founders is itself enough to assure us that such instruc- 
tion was an essential part of their scheme. In the first ad- 
dress to the public, dated May 18, 1805, and nearly a year 
before the opening of their first school, they say, "It is pro- 
posed, also, to establish on the first day of the week a school, 
called a Sunday School, more particularly for such children 
as, from peculiar circumstances, are unable to attend on other 
days of the week. In this, as in the common (week-day) 
school, it will be a primary object, without observing the pe- 
culiar forms of any religious society, to inculcate the sublime 
truths of religion and morality contained in the Holy Scrip- 
tures."^ The adoption of the Lancasterian system seems to 
have led to the abandonment of the Sabbath School enternrise 
as originally projected ; but under the limitations set forth 
in their prospectus, the religious element was introduced into 
the schools actually established, and ever remained a " prima- 
ry object" in the labors of the Society. The variety of relig- 
ious sentiment represented by its members, and perhaps, to 
some extent, the preponderating influence of the Friends, re- 
duced the religious devotional exercises to the simple reading 
of a portion of the Bible to the whole school at the opening 
of the morning session, the use of the sacred volume or of the 
New Testament by the pupils as a reading-book being also 
introduced as a part of the regular work of each day. 

It was no doubt felt by many pious persons who con- 
tributed to the support of the Society that this was far from 
sufficient for the great purposes of positive religious training. 

' Signed bv De Witt Clinton and the entii-e Board of Trustees. 

G 



98 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Accordingly, " on the suggestion, and to meet the wishes of 
numerous well-meaning individuals," an arrangement was 
made by which a voluntary association of fifty or more ladies 
from the various religious denominations met in the school- 
room on Tuesday afternoon of each week and gave instruc- 
tion from the catechisms of their various churches, the pupils 
being grouped according to the ascertained preferences of 
their parents. For this purpose a census of the pupils ac- 
cordincr to their relioious connections seems to have been 
taken .jn each of the j^ears during which this arrangement 
continued, until the wide extension of Sabbath Schools in 
the year 1816 led to the abandonment of the whole plan.' 
During its continuance the children were required to meet 
at the school-room on Sunday morning, and upon being di- 
vided into the proper groups, marched, under care of moni- 
tors selected from among them for that purpose, to such places 
of worship as had been designated by their parents or guard- 
ians.^ 

In 1819, in pursuance of their design of assisting to form 
proper habits, and of preventing the adoption of injurious or 
immoral ones, the trustees, by resolution, ordered " that the 
children be taught once a week to repeat some suitable pas- 
sages out of tracts on the subject of the destructive use of ar- 
dent spirits ; and in order that this may not be omitted, it is 
directed to be inserted in the by-laws." This was followed 
by a widely-circulated address to parents and guardians 
abounding with moral and religious advice both for them- 

' The number of children educated in the peculiar tenets of each religious 
community is, at the present time, as follows : 

Presbyterians 2T1 I Baptists 119 

Kpiscopalians 160 Dutch Church 41 

Methodistoi 172 Roman Catholic 9 



The report for 1815 gives: 



Fivm the Sinth Anmial Report, 1SI4. 



Presbyterians 365 I Baptists 144 

Metliodists 1T5 Roman Catholics. 57 

Episcopalians 159 | Dutch Church 33 

^ "In cases where an attendance at school previous to going to church is 

particularly inconvenient, liberty has been given for the children to attend 

public worship in company with their parents or guardians." — Report oj 

1815. 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 99 

selves and their children, particularly urging the duties of 
cleanliness and temperance, and setting forth the importance 
of the Scriptures as the rule of life, of the observance of the 
Sabbath, and the attendance of the children upon the Sab- 
bath Schools. 

In 1820, the Eev. Messrs. Moffit and Sommerfield, of En- 
gland, being in this country on a religious tour, visited, at- 
tended by a special committee, the several schools of the So- 
ciety ; and soon after the pupils of all their schools, with their 
teachers and monitors, being assembled to the number -of 
2300 in the large Baptist Church in Mulberry Street, were 
again addressed by Mr. Moffit as seemed to him suitable to 
the occasion. Their experience in this instance seems to 
have convinced the Society that they had overstepped the 
bounds of prudence ; for an application for like privileges to 
those that had been granted to Mr. Moffit having been made 
by one Thaddeus Osgood, a travelling missionary, and proba- 
bly a Quaker, it was promptly refused, and no further similar 
occurrence appears in all the subsequent minutes of the Socie- 
ty. Their own efforts to confer moral and religious benefits 
upon their pupils, however, by no means ceased ; two thou- 
sand copies of the Universal Non-sectarian Catechism being 
purchased for use in the schools, and at the same time a book 
entitled the Scripture Lessons, a compilation for the schools 
of Eussia, and which had also been used in England, was 
adopted as a reading-book for some of the advanced classes. 
This plan of using a catechism was soon abandoned, and never 
resumed. 

The first serious controversy in which the Society became 
involved arose in the year 1822 on a question as to the par- 
ticipation of certain denominational schools in the distribution 
of the interest of the Common School Fund, and is so im- 
portant, from the principles evolved in the wide discussion 
to which it gave rise, that it is desirable to trace it to its 
origin. 

On the 2d of April, 1805, the same year in which the Free 
School Society was founded, the Legislature passed an act 



100 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

providing that tlie net proceeds of 500,000 acres of the vacant 
and unappropriated lands of the people of this state, which 
should be first thereafter sold bj the surveyor-general, should 
be appropriated as a permanent fund for the support of Com- 
mon Schools ; the avails to be safely invested until the in- 
terest should amount to $50,000, when an annual distribution 
of that amount should be made to the several school districts. 
This act laid the foundation of the present fund for the sup- 
port of Common Schools.' This fund was further added to 
by the proceeds of certain bank stocks, and of the lotteries 
authorized by the Act of 1803, 

On the 19th of June, 1812, an act was passed establishing 
Common Schools in the state, and provision made in accord- 
ance with the Act of 1805 for the distribution of the interest of 
the fund. There were at this time, as we have already seen, 
several societies engaged in educating the poor ; and on the 
12th of March, 1813, a law was passed " directing that the 
portion of the School Fund received by the city and county 
of New York shall be apportioned and paid to the trustees 
of the Free School Society, the trustees or treasurers of the Or- 
phan Asylum Society, the Society of the Economical School,* 
the African Free School, and of such incorporated religious so- 
cieties in said city as supported or shoidd establish charity schools 
who might apply for the same.'" The distribution was to be 
in the proportion of the number of pupils on register. Under 
the provisions of this law, which was confined in its opera- 
tion to the city of New York, and had no parallel in any 
other portion of the state, several religious bodies drew a cer- 
tain share of the School Fund, either for new schools or for 
those previously established. In 1820 the Bethel Baptist 
Church, in Delancy Street, opened a school which, like the 
others, was admitted to participation. 

Meanwhile the schools of the Free School Society had in- 

* Common School System of the State of New York, by S. S. Eandall. 

* The Economical School was a school for the children of refugees from the 
West Indies, In 1822 it reported ninety-seven pupils on register, 

' The first distribution of the School Fund was in 1815. 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 101 

creased from the two which were in existence at the date of 
the Law of 1813 to four — the school No. 4 having been open- 
ed in May, 1819. The rigid economy practiced by the Soci- 
ety, and the comparative smallness of the expense per schol- 
ar in large schools on the Lancasterian plan, had, as early as 
1816, the second year in which a distribution, was made, left 
them an unexpended surplus, a special provision of the law 
of distribution being that it should be expended /or teachers^ 
ivages only. Justly anticipating a wide extension of their 
sphere of usefulness, the trustees in 1817 applied for and 
obtained the passage of a special law in their favor, per- 
mitting the expenditure of their surplus in new buildings, 
or in the education of masters on the Lancasterian plan. 
This exclusive privilege was then understood to be granted 
them, because the Society, having been organized for the sole 
purposes of education, it was believed would ever hold its 
buildings and property sacred to that object, and consequent- 
ly no perversion of the state fund could ever be apprehend- 
ed in the use of an appropriation designed to extend the 
education of the poor in the metropolis of the state. As 
has been stated. No. 3 was opened in 1818, No. 4 in 1819, 
and arrangements were made for No. 6 in 1822. 

Early in this year, the Bethel Baptist Church, through 
their energetic pastor, the Rev. Jonathan Chase, again sought 
the Legislature, and obtained powers for that organization 
similar to those already granted to the Free School Society ; 
that is, power to expend any surplus in erecting new build- 
ings and opening them for schools.' A second, and soon 
after a third school were opened by the Baptist Society, and 
other religious bodies prepared to follow their example. 

The Free School Society soon gave expression to the 
alarm felt by them in common with a large portion of the 
citizens, while many others, and more especially of the Dutch 
and the Episcopal churches, made common cause with the 
Baptists. A warm controversy arose, and soon involved the 
whole question as to the propriety of the participation of any 

' See Table on following page. 



102 



HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



religious sectarian school. On the one hand it was claimed 
that the Free School Society had come to be a monopoly in 
the absorption of the public funds, and in all that related to 
the education of the poor ; that by the law of the state, as by 
common right, each religious body was entitled to its propor- 
tionate share in the School Fund for the education of the 
children of the several congregations, and that buildings 
erected by them for school purposes were no more liable or 
likely to be turned to other and non-legitimate uses than in 
the case of the Free School Society itself. On the other hand 
it was contended that if the Society was in any such sense a 
monopoly, it was one of which every citizen had a legal right 
to become a member, and that such general participation in its 
rights, duties, and government was earnestly solicited ; that 
the distribution of the limited amount of the School Funds 
among many societies deprived it of very much of its useful- 
ness by rendering a thorough economy impossible, the result 
being a large number of poor schools, under poorly paid, and 
therefore inefficient teachers ; and that a true regard for the 
public interests required the most careful confinement of ex- 
penditure to as few channels as were consistent with the rights 
of all concerned ; and that as to the possibility of the perver- 

The following table exhibits the distribution of the School Fund in the 
city of New York in 1822 : 



New York Free Schools 

African " " 

Femiile Association 

ISethcl Baptist Church 

St. I'atrick's 

St. IVterV 

Methodist Cliurches 

Orphan Asyhini 

Episcopal tlhurches 

Reformed Dutch Church 

Economical School 

Hamilton Free School 

Mechanics' Society 

St. Michael's Church 

Roman Catliolic Uenevolent Society, 

German Lutheran 

Scotch Presbyterian 

First Baptist Church 

Christ Church 

First Presbyterian Church 



PuriLB. 


Amount. 


3412 


$0087 52 


862 


168!) 52 


770 


1.520 96 


755 


1479 80 


345 


679 20 


316 


619 3G 


315 


617 40 


186 


266 36 


124 


243 04 


101) 


196 00 


'.17 


190 12 


81 


158 76 


52 


101 92 


36 


70 56 


32 


62 72 


24 


47 04 


23 


46 OS 


18 


35 28 


15 


29 40 


15 


29 40 



THE EELIGIOUS QUESTION. 103 

sion of the property acquired by religious bodies through 
their unexpended balances of the school money, the facts in 
the special case justified all their fears in this particular. It 
was also declared that the Board of Trustees were ready, on 
behalf of the Society, to assist in procuring the passage of a 
law that should render their property inalienably and sacred- 
ly pledged for the avowed object of their institution, while 
the schools themselves should be placed under the general 
supervision of the Common Council as the direct representa- 
tives of the people, and that the Society would gladly unite 
with their fellow-citizens in any general plan for the efficient 
extension of the monitorial system. 

A memorial was therefore presented to the Legislature of 
1823, asking for a repeal of the law granting privileges to the 
Baptist Church, so far at least as related to the expenditure 
of surplus moneys, and for an amendment of the law relative 
to the distribution of the School Fund, so as to prevent any 
religious society entitled to a participation in the fund from 
drawing for any other than the poor children of their respect- 
ive congregations. Owing to the lateness of the session, and 
a want of knowledge as to the facts of the case, no further 
progress was made than the passage of a resolution requir- 
ing the Superintendent of Common Schools to report in de- 
tail the expenditure of the school money, and the manner of 
its appropriation by the various societies receiving it. 

The general results of this investigation are given in the 
19th Annual Keport of the Society, and would seem fully to 
justify the alarm felt, and the measures taken in regard to 
the alleged evils. 

It is stated in this report that some 300 children had been 
induced by various means to leave Free School No. 3 in Hud- 
son Street and attend Bethel School No. 3 in Vandam Street; 
that since by the law each society participated in proportion, 
not to the average attendance, but to the number on register, 
the Beth'er Society had taken undue advantages — their re- 
ported register being 1547, while the whole number present 
at inspection was only 886 ; that one school drew money for 



104 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

a register of 450, yet could possibly accommodate only 300 ; 
that being allowed to expend the surplus, after paying teach- 
ers, in building more school-houses, the cheapest sort of teach- 
ers had been provided, although nominally at salaries equal 
to those paid by the Free School Society, both sets of schools 
being conducted on the monitorial system ; that teacher Buyce 
of No. 1 testified that he signed an agreement for a salary of 
$900 with the understanding that he was to pay $450 of it 
over to Mr. Chase ; that the teacher of No. 2 got $600, and 
agreed to return $200 as a " donation ;" that by such means 
Mr. Chase and the Bethel Baptist Church received some 
$2500 per annum, and at the same time brought the Lancas- 
terian system into ill-deserved repute by the shocking ineffi- 
ciency of its management ; that by funds so accumulated a 
building was being erected, the basement of which, dark and 
ill-ventilated, was to be the school provided by law^ while 
the upper and better portion was to be devoted to church 
purposes ; and that, owing to the success of the Baptists, other 
religious societies were preparing to follow their example. 

They also state with great force that, having for years 
urged their pupils to attend Sabbath Schools for religious in- 
struction, they are pained to find those schools now made the 
means and opportunity of urging children to abandon the 
Free Schools altogether ; thus leading off large numbers of 
pupils, who, in their turn, naturally persuaded away others 
of their school-mates, and that in this manner these sectarian 
schools, supported by the public money, are made a most 
convenient means of proselyting. As a conclusive test of 
the results of the moral training given by the Free Schools, 
they assert that, although in eighteen years they had instruct- 
ed 20,000 poor children, only one of these had been traced to 
a criminal court. The primary object of denominational 
schools being not a literary but a religious sectarian education, 
the consequences of such training are the inevitable sharpen- 
ing of the lines dividing sects, the systematic sowing in the 
young mind of those germs of conscientious antagonism 
which had so often ripened into a harvest of blood, and the 



THE KELIGIOUS QUESTION. 105 

destruction of Common Schools the only common ground in 
which the future citizens of the republic could from their 
childhood learn to know and respect each other. To do this 
at all was a grievous evil ; to do it at the expense of the 
• public, whose future harmony was thus, however remotely, 
imperiled, was an offense against the fundamental principles 
of the republic itself 

These considerations induced the Free School Society 
again to apply to the Legislature in 1824 " that the religious 
societies might be restricted to what was justly deemed the 
obvious intention of the act providing for their participation 
in the School Fund. To a bill prepared for that purpose, 
they obtained the sanction of the city Corporation, who, after 
a full examination of the subject and mature deliberation, 
unanimously adopted it, and memorialized for its enactment." 
Several religious societies also indorsed the memorial of the 
Free School Society. The final action of the Legislature 
seems to have taken all parties by surprise. Instead of them- 
selves deciding any of the questions involved, they passed 
an act transferring the whole subject of the local distribution 
of the School Fund to the Common Council of the city of 
New York, with full powers to make such assignment as they 
might deem just and expedient.^ 

This transfer of the duty of the decision to the Common 
Council led, as may well be supposed, to a most important and 
exciting series of debates in that body, and before the special 
committee which took charge of the subject. The best talent 
the city afforded was represented on both sides ; the discussion 
took a far wider range than was originally proposed, and the 
respective parties were fully and patiently heard before this fin- 
al tribunal. " The grounds on which the restriction was now 
advocated were, that the intention of the Law of 1813, grant- 

' The minutes and committee reports of the Society make mention in sever- 
al places of the strength and activity of the opposing "lobby," and particular- 
ly name the Rev. Messrs. Chase, Wainwright, Matthews, Milnor, Onderdonk, 
and some others, representing the Dutch, Baptist, and Episcopal churches, as 
opposed to the efforts of Rutgers, Jay, C. D. Golden, and S. Allen. 



106 HISTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ing the cliurcli schools a portion of the funds, was solely for 
the education of their own poor, never contemplating an ex- 
tension of their schools that would at all interfere with those 
of the Free School Society, the design of which was solely 
the extension of common schools, and especially for the poor- 
It was considered further that the principles that had hereto- 
fore guided all legislation on this subject were infringed, and 
a fund designed for civil purposes diverted to the support 
of religious institutions, contrary to the spirit of the acknowl- 
edged principles of our Government, which has ever left re- 
ligion to be sustained by voluntary contributions, and the in- 
dividual effort and patronage of its own votaries." The com- 
mittee, " deeming that the School Fund of the state was pure- 
ly of a civil character, designed for civil purposes, and that 
the intrusting of it to religious or ecclesiastical bodies was 
a violation of an elementary principle in the politics of the 
state and country," reported "against distributing anyporiion 
of the School Fund to the schools of religious societies," and 
in 1825 introduced an ordinance, which was unanimously 
adopted, directing the distribution to be made to the " Free 
School Society, Mechanics' Society, the Orphan Asylum So- 
ciety, and the trustees of the African Schools."' 

No farther agitation of the question of the participation 
of religious denominational schools in the distribution of the 
School Fund occurred for about ten years. The period 
from 1822 to 1832 witnessed, as we have seen, extensive 
changes in the organization, management, discipline, general 
object, and even the name of the schools as well as that of the 
Society itself The Free Schools had become pay schools, 
and then "Public Schools," and the Society was now the 
"Public School Society." Its income had greatly increased, 
while its field of labor had even outrun its means of support. 
The four schools of 1822 had now become twelve, in nearly 
every one of which was a large and flourishing Primary De- 
partment ; and two other buildings equally commodious were 

' The scliools and societies cut oflf by this ordinance may be seen by consult- 
ing the list of participators in 1822 already given. 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 107 

in contemplation, having been demanded by citizens of cer- 
tain parts of the rapidly-expanding community. 

It will also be remembered that in 1829 the Legislature, 
in response to a remarkable petition from a large portion of 
the tax-paying citizens, had granted for the support of the 
schools an annual levy of one-eightieth of one per cent, on the 
assessed value of city property, which was only one-fourth of 
the amount asked for, the remaining three-fourths having 
been omitted through the agency of the Common Council. 
In 1831 an effort was again made to obtain the full amount 
originally asked for by the five thousand memoralists. The 
Common Council, by the legislation growing out of the Bap- 
tist controversy, and through the Commissioners of the Com- 
mon School Fund, were now the agents in its distribution. 
In compliance with the request of the Society, they pre- 
sented a memorial to the Legislature in 1831, but inserted a 
clause providing that the proceeds of the additional three- 
eightieths of one per cent. " shall be and remain under the 
immediate and sole control of the Common Council.'" The So- 
ciety, alarmed at this new phase of affairs, made earnest ef- 
forts to have this provisional clause stricken out, in the belief 
that it was certain to lead to a diversion of the funds from 
their legitimate purposes. While the matter was still unset- 
tled, formal application was made to the Common Council by 
the Eoman Catholic Benevolent Society for their Orphan 
Asylum, and by the Methodist Episcopal Church in behalf of 
their charity schools for renewed admission to a participation 
in the school moneys. The petition in relation to the Orphan 
Asylum was favorably entertained by the Corporation, and 
referred to a committee before whom the Trustees of the Pub- 
lic School Society appeared as remonstrants, at the same time, 
through an address which was published in nearly all the 
newspapers, appealing to the general public. 

They alleged that the Eoman Catholic Benevolent Society 
was a close corporation, all of its members being necessarily 
Catholics ; that the education they gave was strictly sectarian, 

' See page 57. 



108 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOlir. 

and that if they were admitted to participate in the School 
Fund persons who had conscientious scruples against such 
a measure would he forced to contribute ; and that such taxes 
were in fact, and to all intents and purposes, tithes ; that the 
decision of 1825 had been thought to be final, and proceeded 
from the conviction that the school moneys ought not to be 
diverted, in whole or in part, to purposes of sectarian instruc- 
tion, but should be kept sacred to the great object emphatical- 
ly called " Common Education," and that for these reasons not 
only the Eoman Catholic Society, but other equally benevolent 
societies, among them the highly meritorious Female Associ- 
ation, had been excluded from any share in the funds; that 
it was not in their special favor that they were willing to re- 
ceive all orphans of every sect, similar willingness being man- 
ifested by all church schools, and, however well-intentioned, 
would be only a means of proselyting at the public expense, 
and that the sympathy naturally felt by every humane mind 
for their state of orphanage did not change the principle in re- 
gard to a school confessedly sectarian ; that the high character, 
interest, and manifest usefulness of the Eoman Catholic Asy- 
lum call upon the benevolent for its generous support, but only 
by voluntary contributions^ and not by compulsory levies. 

By the friends of the Asylum it was argued that the right 
of their orphans to the advantages of the school moneys was 
in every way equal to that of the inmates of the New York 
Orphan Asylum, who had for years enjoyed the benefits 
which the state thus provided for her needy and helpless lit- 
tle ones, and whose claim no one had thought of disputing ; 
that if it were true that the institution whose rights they 
sought was in any sense a sectarian school, the same was 
practically and really true of the other asylum which was in- 
deed popularly known and designated as the Protestant Or- 
phan Asylum. Its school-books and its religious exercises 
were, in several important particulars, distinctively Protestant, 
as was also its management, although the membership of the 
Society was ostensibly open to all ; that the petitioners did 
not seek to take from these friendless ones the bounty which 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. 109 

the state had so wisely and in such Christian spirit provided, 
but only to have another and equally necessitous gathering 
of homeless children admitted to the same privileges. 

They also urged that these little ones, and all such as they, 
though orphans, had equal rights with other children in the 
benefits provided for all, and that, if any distinction was to be 
made, the loss of their parents and their generally destitute 
condition really gave them greater claims than any other 
class upon the means provided for fitting them for a self-sus- 
taining citizenship ; that their orphanage could not cause a 
loss of their rights ; that having now no other home, and 
no natural protectors to claim these rights for them, the So- 
ciety was their only remaining means of so doing ; that it was 
not asked that the chief burden, the cost of their maintenance, 
should be furnished from the public coffers, for they were al- 
ready housed, clothed, fed, attended in sickness, and had every 
bodily want supplied by those " voluntary contributions " of the 
benevolent, which, as had been alleged by their opponents, 
were necessary for their general support, but that in the mat- 
ter of education the pecuniary means were already provided 
for them, as for all others, by the whole community, and that 
they now looked to the Common Council as their civil guard- 
ians, to see that these benefits were no longer withheld. 

The claims of the Asylum prevailed ; the Committee of 
the Common Council, while directly acknowledging the sound- 
ness of the cardinal principles of the ordinance of 1825, could 
not but feel that the peculiar character of an orphan asylum 
rendered a departure from the stringent and literal application 
of these principles a moral and obvious necessity. Such in- 
stitutions were therefore to be considered as exceptions to the 
general rule ; and the committee having reported according- 
ly, their report was adopted, and the Society admitted to par- 
ticipation in the school moneys. At the same time the Com- 
mon Council compromised with the Public School Society 
and its friends by striking out of the pending enactment the 
clause relative to the sole control of the large additional tax 
of three-eightieths of one per cent., and the act passed the 



110 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Legislature, directing these new funds into the old channels 
of distribution. 

The Methodists now renewed their claim in behalf of 
such orphan children as were attending their church schools, 
and were again opposed by the Public School Society ; but 
the Common Council, by a unanimous vote, decided that ex- 
ceptions to the fundamental rule could only be made in the 
case of those who had no other home than an asylum, and 
the claim was accordingly rejected. 

■ Meanwhile the trustees continued their efforts to induce 
their pupils to attend the various Sabbath Schools, a census 
of the schools having frequently been taken to determine the 
proportion so attending.' Persuaded also that there was a 
great middle ground upon which all believers in a divine 
revelation could harmoniously stand, they again endeavored 
to introduce some degree of systematic religious training in 
their own schools free — in their opinion — from all offensive 
sectarian bias. Toward the close of 1838 a committee was 
appointed " to report upon the expediency of introducing 
into all the schools suitable books setting forth in concise 
terms the fundamental truths of the Christian religion free 
from sectarian bias ; also special articles upon the moral code 
upon which the good order and welfare of society are based, 
the substance of which shall be committed to memory by the 
pupils." The committee reported favorably as to the gen- 
eral measure, but again urged that " special care must be 
taken to avoid any instruction of a sectarian character ; but 
the teachers shall embrace every favorable opportunity of 
inculcating the general truths of Christianity, and the pri- 
mary importance of practical religious and moral duty, as 
founded on the precepts of the Holy Scriptures." 

No practical application seems to have been found feasi- 
ble of that part of the resolution which refers to the intro- 
duction of suitable books, probably from a difficulty of find- 
ing or originating such as would meet the requirements. 

' Of an avera<:e attendance of nearly 16,000 in the year 1S3S, only 3337 
arc reported as not attending Sabbath School. 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION. Ill 

Early in 1840 the Trustees of the Catholic Free Schools 
made application to the Common Council, in whose hands 
the law still vested the distribution of the school moneys, for 
a proportionate share in the distribution. The earnestness, 
respectability, and powerful influence of the applicants, the 
large number of these schools, the certainty of their rapid 
extension with the growth of the city, and equal certainty 
that the success of this application involved that of all other 
sectarian schools, and the consequent overthrow of the 
" Common " School system, gave to the new controversy, 
which immediately arose, an importance superior to any that 
had preceded it. The remarkable talent engaged on both 
sides, the interesting and exciting debates which took place 
before and in the several deliberative bodies to which the 
subject was in turn referred, and the many and important so- 
cial, political, and religious interests involved in the discus- 
sion, render it impossible within the limits of this report 
to do more than make brief reference to the subject, the 
most essential points having been already stated in the 
eleventh chapter in reciting the origin of the Board of Edu- 
cation. The intensity and extent of the excitement pro- 
duced in the public mind, as indicated by the utterances of 
the public prints, of the pulpits, and of the many meetings 
of citizens called to consider and act upon what was gen- 
erally felt to be a question of the first order of importance, 
have been already alluded to in a previous portion of this 
communication. 

The application for participation was followed by a re- 
monstrance from the Public School Society, copies of this and 
all other important documents throughout the controversy 
being widely circulated. Objections having been made to cer- 
tain books used in the schools as containing sectarian passages 
and depreciating remarks and attacks upon the Eoman Cath- 
olic religion, a committee of revision and expurgation was 
appointed by the Society in order to remove all matter to 
which reasonable objection could be made. 

Careful examination showed that the charge was well- 



112 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

founded, and that the trustees had inadvertently permitted a 
serious evil. When patient and thorough investigation had 
determined its full extent, a remedy was applied promptly and 
completely. The expurgation was at once ordered, and the 
work was thoroughly done. The calm judgment of all who 
have since studied the circumstances of the case with the ob- 
jectionable passages before them, has justified and commend- 
ed this action of the trustees; while the fact that from that 
time to this book publishers and school trustees have been 
careful to exclude all such passages from school-books, so 
as not to expose themselves to similar difficulty, is signifi- 
cant and sufficient testimony both as to its justice and its 
policy. 

A full hearing of all parties was given by the Common 
Council and its committees, and by a unanimous vote of the 
Assistant Aldermen, followed by a similar one in the Board 
of Aldermen, with the exception of a single dissenting voice, 
the remonstrance of the Public School Society was sustained, 
the principles of the decision and ordinance of 1825 emphat- 
ically reiterated, and the application denied. 

An appeal was made to the Legislature. It is not neces- 
sary to the purpose of this report to follow further the out- 
lines of the controversy ; scarcely any important point was 
raised which had not been fully discussed in previous con- 
troversies. The attention which had been drawn to the sub- 
ject, the interest generally taken, and the important and del- 
icate nature of the principles involved, made the task of the 
Legislature no easy one. A decision could not be reached in 
1841, and its transfer to the session of 1842 gave time and 
opportunity for the further increase of the public excitement. 
The proposition of the governor to extend the state system 
to the wards of the city, so as to allow each to manage and 
control its own school affairs, was felt to be the nearest ap- 
proach to a settlement which could probably be made, and 
cut the knot that none could untie. Of course, both the con- 
testants were disappointed. The friends of the Public School 
Society considered that the cause of public education had re- 



THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION, 113 

ceived irreparable injury, and probably its death-blow. Aft- 
er sufficient time had elapsed under the new system to allow 
the full working of its vital principle, the groundlessness of 
this fear was abundantly manifest, and none were more 
ready to acknowledge it than those members of the Society 
who in 1853 took their seats as members of the Board of 
Education. 

During the first years of its existence the Board itself was 
by no means entirely free from trouble arising from the same 
subject. From the very nature of its constitution, it contain- 
ed representatives of all sides of the recent controversy, and 
its proceedings were not altogether harmonious. But time 
gradually closed all important differences ; changes bearing 
upon the religious question, and which had been proved nec- 
cessary, were made in the organic law by the Legislature; 
and with the acquisition of the wisdom and experience of the 
Public School Society to the councils of the Board, all irrita- 
tion ceased, and the vexed question no longer agitates the 
community. 

Bearing in mind the fundamental principle upon which 
the system was established in 1842, and that, under such lim- 
itations and checks as experience has proved to be necessary 
for the general interest, the several boards of trustees " have 
power to conduct and manage the schools," the following ex- 
tract from a report of S. S. Kandall, City Superintendent of 
Schools, will sufficiently exhibit the present condition and 
harmonious operation of the system as now existing. It 
must also be remembered that every school is open, as has 
been already stated, to the children of all citizens, without 
distinction of ward lines ; so that if there be any thing in the 
local management unsatisfactory to any parent, there are al- 
ways schools within a very short distance where no such ob- 
jection will be found ; and that as a result of this, all may 
feel safe in regard to the matter of religious influence. 

" In all our public schools and departments, at frequent and 
appropriate intervals during the day, songs imbued with the 
purest principles of Christian morality form a portion of the 

n 



114 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION". 

course of instriiction, and are participated in by all the pupils. 
In all of them, without a solitary exception, lessons and pre- 
cepts of virtue and Christian conduct are daily inculcated by 
the teachers, school-officers, 'superintendents, or visitors, the 
fundamental principles of religion recognized and enforced, 
and the importance and necessity of strict honesty and integ- 
rity, undeviating truthfulness, frankness, sincerity, mutual af- 
fection and regard, obedience and respect to parents, and the 
conscientious and uniform observance of all the requisitions 
of a pure Christian morality taught by precept and example. 
In all of them the daily routine and discipline of the school 
are directly and powerfully adapted to the formation and per- 
petuation of habits of order, quietude, neatness, punctuality, 
fidelity, industry, obedience, honor, truth, uprightness, defer- 
ence to the wants, the rights, and conveniences of others, and 
to the assiduous culture of the highest and noblest principles 
of action and conduct in all the varied relations of life. This 
is the character of the teachings of our public schools, these 
are the agencies and instrumentalities in daily operation with- 
in their walls ; and no influences at variance with these are 
permitted, under any pretense, to find access or gain a foot- 
ing among them. Neither the mind nor the heart of the 
child most religiously and scrupulously trained and disci- 
plined in the domestic circle or the sanctuary of the Church, 
is exposed to the slightest contamination by the instruction 
or discipline of the school; while, on the other hand, every 
lesson of pure Christian morality or ethics, communicated in 
either of the former, is strengthened and confirmed by the 
pervading instruction and influence of the latter.'" 

In concluding this part of the report, it seems indispensa- 
ble that some reference should again be made to a subject 
which has already received incidental mention — the expansion 
of the systems of Sunday School instruction. Every form of 
distinctive religious organization. Christian or Hebrew, is en- 
gaged, with greater or less earnestness and success, in this 

' Kcport of City Superintendent of School.«. 



THE EELIGIOUS QUESTION. 115 

important field of effort. In these useful institutions are 
gathered by far the larger part of all the children, attending, 
during five other days of the week, the various secular schools, 
public and private. Divided into little classified groups of 
from four or five to a dozen pupils of every age, from lisping 
infancy to early manhood or womanhood, they are committed 
to a vast array of devoted teachers, selected from the best and 
purest of the self-denying elements of the various religious 
bodies, each filled with love and sympathy for the little band 
of immortal spirits, and prayerfully endeavoring to instill 
those religious principles, distinctive or general, which they 
conscientiously believe necessary for present guidance and 
for future happiness. Each religious body, in conformity to 
its peculiar organization, is thus enabled to bring its choicest 
talent, its concentrated efforts, and its most approved super- 
vision and direction, to the moulding of the religious charac- 
ter of those who are rightly considered its most precious trust. 
Year by year, the many powerful associations and societies, 
with their varying degrees of organic compactness, are devel- 
oping a greater and greater skill and zeal in the special work 
to which they are devoted. Practically each denomination 
is coming more and more distinctly to realize that the true 
protection of the young from adverse proselyting influences 
is to be found, not in withdrawing them from the common 
ground of the future citizens, the Common School, but in 
thus fortifying their minds and hearts, through the teaching 
of parents and the systematic weekly training of special relig- 
ious instructors. 



116 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



XV. 

THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 

Original Purpose of Free School Society. — Special Efforts in ISI9 and 1821. — 
Society for the Prevention of Pauperism. — House of Refuge for Juvenile 
Delinquents. — Renewed Efforts of 1828. — Appointment of Mr. Seton as 
Visitor. — His Reports. — Efforts of 1832. — Coercive Measures of the Com- 
mon Council. — Their Failure. — Extra Meeting of 1838. — Its Report. — 
Results. — Five Visitors appointed. — Plan abandoned in 1841. — ^Relation 
of the Board of Education to the Question. — Industrial Schools. — Truant 
Laws. — Difficulties of the Subject. — Census. 

The original purpose of tbe Free School Society, as set 
forth in its first charter and title, was " for the Establishment 
of a Free School for the Education of Poor Children who 
do not belong to or are not provided for by any Eeligious So- 
ciety." A like school, but for the benefit of female children 
only, had been opened a few years before by the Female As- 
sociation, while both of these were preceded as early as 1787 
by an essentially similar institution for the children of manu- 
mitted slaves. Both of these schools, with some others of an 
analogous character, were, as we have already seen, finally 
merged into the Free School or Public School Society, either 
by formal transfer or silent absorption. 

In the rapid expansion which the excellence of its man- 
agement, the efficiency of its system, and the high social po- 
sition and devoted attention of its members secured to this 
vigorous society, their original function and purpose unavoid- 
ably came to be more and more subordinate to the new and 
wider duties which circumstances devolved upon them. Yet 
they never lost sight of this their first field of labor. During 
the whole period of their corporate existence the subject 
claimed and received much of their systematic and benevolent 
attention, and for the first ten or fifteen years gave shape, in a 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION, 117 

greater or less degree, to their entire policy. So thoroughly 
did they set forth their claims as conducting the schools of 
the poor, that to this day it is by no means rare to find per- 
sons still imbued with the idea that all public schools are, and 
■necessarily must be, charity schools ; even going so far as to 
censure such of the wealthier portion of the community as 
send their children to participate in their advantages for oc- 
cupying places to the exclusion of those to whom they right- 
fully belong. This ingrained and antique misconception of 
the function of the Common Schools was a serious obstacle 
to their progress until after the act of 18-12, by which the 
schools were placed more immediately under the control of 
the people. So complete has since been the change in the 
views of the more intelligent portion of the community, that 
such persons are more and more looked upon as curious fossil 
intellects, and must soon come to be an altogether extinct race. 

Yet the number of poor, neglected, and untaught children is 
far greater than ever, increasing with the growth of the city, 
and calling upon the philanthropic for their most earnest 
efforts in their behalf. From various causes, and notwith- 
standing the most vigorous exertions to secure their attend- 
ance, they constitute but a comparatively small proportion- 
ate part of the vast army of children in our Public Schools. 
The position of the Board of Education in relation to this 
mass of mental and moral destitution will be considered in 
the sequel. 

Early in 1819 a special effort was made to bring a larger 
number of neglected boys into the Free Schools. The So- 
ciety at this time had three schools : Nos. 1 and 2 had long 
been established ; No. 3 had just been opened in temporary 
quarters in the village of Greenwich, and the^new building, 
No. 4, in Eivington Street, near the extreme northeastern 
limit of the city, was nearly ready for occupancy. In No. 2, 
a portion of the pupils being girls, it was resolved to transfer 
these to the schools of the Female Association, in order to 
make room for such poor boys as could be induced to attend. 
Accordingly hand-bills w^ere circulated throughout the east- 



118 niSTOEY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ern part of the city inviting their attendance, soliciting the 
co-operation of the benevolent to this end, and stating that 
on this account no more girls would be admitted. 

The subject of such poor children was again claiming the 
serious attention of all thoughtful citizens. It was, as we 
have seen, the chief purpose of the Society at its establish- 
ment in 1805. It was now again so prominent a theme 
among the benevolent that a society known as the " Society 
for the Prevention of Pauperism " had been organized,' its 

' The formation of this Society was chietiy due to the efforts of a reraavka- 
ble and useful man, rrofessor John Griscom. A portion of its labors has 
so direct a bearing iipon the subject under consideration as to require more 
than a passing notice of the Society itself. It was publicly organized on the 
IGth of December, 1817, at the New York Hospital, at a meeting of which 
General Clarkson was chairman, and Divio Bethune secretary. A commit- 
tee was appointed " to prepare a constitution, and a statement of the prevail- 
ing causes of pauperism, with suggestions relative to the most suitable and 
efficient remedies." JNIr. Griscom was chairman of the committee, which also 
comprised seven other leading citizens. Their report was written by the chair- 
man, and was one of the earliest, if not the first of the essays on pauperism 
and its preventives which have appeared in the city of New York. It is a 
very able document, and drew much attention both hi this country and in 
Europe. The constitution defined the objects of the Society to be as follows : 
" To investigate the circumstances and habits of the poor ; to deV'ise means 
for improving their situation both in a physical and moral point of view ; to 
suggest plans for calling into exercise their own endeavors, and to aft'ord the 
means of giving them increased eifect ; to hold out inducements to economy 
and s.aving from the fruits of their own industry in seasons of greater abun- 
dance ; to discountenance, and, as far as possible, prevent mendicity and street- 
begging ; and, in fine, to do every thing which may tend to meliorate their 
condition by stimulating their industry and exciting their own energies." The 
report was an analysis of the causes of and remedies for pauperism. These 
causes were stated to be, 1st. Ignorance ; 2d. Idleness ; 3d. Intemperance ; -ith. 
"Want of Economy ; 5th. Imprudent and Hasty Marriages ; 6th. Lotteries ; 7th. 
Pawnbrokers ; Sth. Houses of Ill-fame ; 9th. The numerous Charitable Institu- 
tions of the City? 10th. War. These were severally discussed at length, and 
in such a manner as to show that the writer had studied both their theory and 
application. 

Many valuable results followed the efl:brts of this noble society ; among 
them, the establishment of the first Savings' Bank, the Apprentices' Library, 
and the House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents. 

The substance of this note is from a Memoir of John Griscom, N. Y., 1859, 
by his son, John H. Griscom, M.D. 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 119 

individual members being, to a great extent, identical with 
those of the Free School Society. It was already practically 
realized that in this wide field at least two distinct depart- 
ments of labor were necessary, although these might have 
intimate relations to each other; that the details of the ade- 
quate support and efficient management and inspection of an 
increasing system of schools made larger and larger demands 
upon the°disposable time of those who had them in charge ; 
while the growth of the city, and particularly from the char- 
acter of a part of the large immigration, the great increase in 
this class of the juvenile population furnished abundant room 
for the efforts of those who would make this their sole care. 

The new Society reported in 1820 that there were proba- 
bly some 7000 or more children of proper age who attended 
no school. The entire population of the city at this time was 
about 130,000. A memorial on the subject was presented 
to the Legislature by the Free School Society in 1821, and 
aid asked to provide more extended accommodation, their 
schools being then already full. In 1824, through the agency 
of the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, the House of 
'Eefuge for Juvenile Delinquents was incorporated, the insti- 
tution being opened on the 1st of January, 1825.' It was 
the first of its kind in the United States, and still remains one 
of the most important of our reformatory agencies. Its estab- 

J The committee whose report in 1823 led to the establishment of this valu- 
able institution consisted of Professor Griscom, Isaac Collins, Cornelius Du- 
bois, Hiram Ketchum, Daniel Lord, Jr., William M. Carter, and James W. 
Gerard; all of them gentlemen who have done much for the defense or ad- 
vancement of the interests of public education, more particularly the last 
named, whose cheerful face, gratuitous instructive lectures, and encouragmg 
and active sympathy, have endeared him to every pupil and every teacher in 
our city Grammar Schools. His interest is as marked as evjr, and he is still a 
respected member of the Board of Inspectors of our city schools. He has the 
hi-h honor of having been the actual originator of the House of Eefuge, his 
address to the citizens of New York delivered in 1823, and now about to be 
republished in a special history of that institution, being the first step toward 
its establishment. It is a remarkable instance of wise forecast and broad and 
generous philanthropy. To his persistent eiforts New York also owes its nnifor^n- 
ed police. 



120 HISTORY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION". 

lishment marks also the first of tlie compulsory measures 
which have in various sections of the country been deemed 
expedient to secure the education of the ". dangerous or per- 
ishing classes." It was pronounced by De Witt Clinton 
"the best penitentiary institution ever devised by the wit or 
established by the beneficence of man." 

In 1S25 the total population under the age of 16 years 
was estimated at 53,000. About 27,000 were between the 
age of five and fifteen years, and of these 20,000 were taught, 
to a greater or less extent, in the various public and private 
schools, and about 7000 were not taught at all.' The direct- 
and indirect personal efforts of the members of the Free 
School Societv. to2;ether with those of their families and 
friends, had heretofore been chiefly relied upon as a means 
of brinoinsf into the schools this class of neglected children. 

In 1828 the evil had grown to such magnitude that the 
Society felt compelled to appoint a special agent to visit the 
families of the poor and urge the attendance of their children. 
They were remarkably fortunate in the selection of this offi- 
cer. Among the most earnest and efficient members of the 
Board of Trustees was a gentleman whose cultivated mind, 
ready speech, affable manners, and unselfish devotion to the 
interests of the poor, rendered him in every way qualified for 
so difficult and delicate a mission. For many years he had 
labored in this wide field during such brief intervals as a 
business life affords. Now, at what he felt to be the call of 
duty, he abandoned his business life with all its hopes, and 
for a salary of $800 a year devoted all his time and all 
his energies to his new office of Visitor. All honor to Sam- 
uel W. Seton. Such men are far too few. For nearly half 
a century, and in various capacities, he has continued faith- 
fully to labor for the children of our city, and still, as assist- 
ant and associate of the City Superintendent of Schools, af- 
fords us the benefit of his councils and of his long experience. 

His first report, dated only a few months after entering 
upon his official duties, shows that with characteristic energy 

' Ajiproximatc estimates in the 17th Report of the Free School Society. 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION". 121 

he had already visited about 1700 families, jepresenting about 
10,000 individuals, of whom over 8700 were children. Many 
were induced to go to school, but much difficulty was expe- 
rienced in getting them to become regular attendants. 

Notwithstanding all their efforts, in 1829 and 1830 the So- 
ciety was the subject of many and repeated attacks in the 
newspapers because of the great number of vagrant children 
in the streets. A careful analysis of the reports of the visitor, 
as well as the individual experience of other members, showed 
that the chief causes were the poverty and apathy of ignorant 
parents. In 1831 the visitor's report advises some form of 
coercive law, and the withholding of municipal and other as- 
sistance from all families that neglect to send their children 
to some school. In 1832, the Society, with growing concern 
at the increasing magnitude of the evil and their own compar- 
ative want of success notwithstanding their urgent efforts, ap- 
pointed a special committee to investigate the condition of the 
same question in other communities, and to report such meas- 
ures as they might deem adequate. The school system of 
Boston being at that time by general consent considered the 
most developed, the committee visited that city, to benefit as 
far as might be by the experience of another community. Two 
special queries were to receive their attention : the proportion 
of children of school age actually attending school, and the 
means found most efficient in securing attendance. In regard 
to the first, an immense difference was found in the relative 
attendance in the schools of the two cities, being largely in 
favor of Boston. This was chiefly attributed to the many 
Dame Schools for the younger children scattered through- 
out the city, securing the attendance of the pupils while yet 
very young, and thus forming habits of regular attendance 
not so easily established after long education in the streets 
alone. As we have already seen, the same policy was now 
adopted by the Society, and the great system of Primary 
Schools was established, with a success that fully established 
the wisdom of the measure. This was in part an answer to 
the second query. It was also found that in Boston there 



122 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOK 

were far more strmgent truant and other coercive laws, and 
that these were more rigidly enforced. Habitual truants were 
almost certain to find themselves, sooner or later, members of 
the School of Eeformation, the local equivalent for our House 
of Eefuge. There were also a far less proportion of the un- 
desirable elements of immigration, and a more general and 
longer established popular habit of obedience to coercive laws 
when found necessary for the good of the general public. 
Efforts were accordingly made by the Public School Society 
for analogous restrictions. In the report in which these views 
are advocated, and which was printed in many of the city 
journals, they argued that " Every political compact implies 
the surrender of some individual rights for the public good. 
In our government, universal education is indispensable to 
permanency ; and therefore, if parents are so ignorant or so 
careless as to neglect it, authority should compel. We must 
have safe and consistent members of societ3\" 

The subject was brought before the proper authorities, 
and steps were taken to carry out the suggestions of the So- 
ciety. In April, 1832, the following resolutions passed the 
several branches of the city government : 

" Resolved^ that the Trustees of the Public School Society 
and the Commissioners of the Almshouse be requested to 
make it known to parents and all persons, whether immigrants 
or otherwise, having children in charge, that unless said par- 
ents and persons do and shall send such children to some pub- 
lic or other daily school for such time in each year as the 
Trustees of the Public School Society may from time to time, 
designate, that all such persons must consider themselves out 
of the pale of the public charities, and not entitled, in case of 
misfortune, to receive public favor. 

" Resolved, that the Trustees of the Public School Society 
and the Commissioners of the Almshouse are hereby author- 
ized to take such steps as they may deem expedient from 
time to time to give publicity to these resolutions, and the 
commissioners are hereby requested to use such means as may 
be in their power and discretion to carry the same into effect." 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION". 123 

Large printed copies of these resolutions, duly authentica- 
ted, were posted throughout the city, and 20,000 other copies 
in the form of handbills, with a suitable caption, were circu- 
lated by Mr. Seton. 

For a short time a limited beneficial effect followed these 
strong measures: but for several reasons it was found im- 
possible to secure their general enforcement, and the whole 
plan was soon abandoned as impracticable. There were so 
many cases of extreme and utter poverty that a rigid appli- 
cation of these regulations would have been unpardonable 
cruelty. 

The Society, however, was far from abandoning the sub- 
ject as hopeless. Various efforts were from time to time 
made, and, in 1838, the subject again assumed such import- 
ance that on the 19th of December of that year an extra 
meeting of the Board of Trustees was called " to devise meas- 
ures to increase the attendance, especially of vagrant chil- 
dren." A full report was presented by a special committee. 

The chief obstacles were of two classes. The first were 
moral, and among these were enumerated the indifference 
and viciousness of both parents and children — the results of 
ignorance, intemperance, and indolence — the dislike of such 
children to all proper control, and their love of the excite- 
ments and amusements of the streets. The second class of 
obstacles were physical, and were only phases and accompani- 
ments of extreme poverty — want of clothing, and the need 
of some help by the children themselves. 

The committee had again sought the accumulated experi- 
ences of neighboring states and cities in dealing with the for- 
midable evil. Connecticut had statutory provisions which, 
probably from their stringency, were rarely enforced;' and 
the opinion is expressed that " the morbidly excitable sensi- 

' Parents and guardians were required by statute to have their children taught 
to read and write, and to cipher as far as through the " four rules." The se- 
lectmen were instructed to inspect the conduct of the heads of families, and, 
in case of neglect, "shall take charge of and bind out the children of such 
parents." * * * "When children or minors are stubborn and refuse to obey 
their parents, they may be committed to the county jail for thirty days." 



124 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

tiveness of our laboring classes would not permit a scrutiny 
of so inquisitorial a character." An interesting communication 
had also been received from Boston, but seems to have em- 
braced no new points. The various measures hitherto em- 
ployed at various times by the Society were then passed in 
review; printed addresses, tracts, cards, circulars, visits of 
trustees, of teachers, and of the special agent ; the last having 
uniformly produced the best results. 

The report concludes with several recommendations : the 
appointment of three visitors, a modified form of compulsory 
law, and the establishment of a Farm Keform School in an 
insular position. 

A memorial to the Corporation was also presented and 
adopted. This recites the flourishing condition of the schools, 
but laments " that so small a number of those for whom they 
were originally intended " were found in them. It asks that 
measures be taken to enlighten public opinion npon the 
subject, and that authority may intervene to prevent the stol- 
id ignorance and indifference of parents from robbing their 
children of an education, and thus injuring society. It fur- 
ther refers to the delicate and difficult problem of " how to 
reconcile the principles of free government with the necessary 
enforcement of such laws as must supersede in such cases the 
parental authority," and concludes b}- urging the establish- 
ment of a Farm School, a renewal of the handbills of 1832, 
and a memorial to the Legislature for a law for the control 
of refractory minors. 

The results of all these efforts were not encouraging. The 
Corporation refused all compulsory measures. Four visitors 
were employed by the trustees, and many children were thus 
brought in, but comparatively few could be induced to stay. 
In one report it is stated that out of 1177 vagrant children 
admitted, only 856 remained. The plan was faithfully tried 
under the vigilant attention of a select committee of five for 
three or four years, but with less and less beneficial results to 
justify the necessary expenditure, and in 18il it was reluc- 
tantly abandoned. 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 125 

111 the interval between the establishment of the Board 
of Education in 1842 and its absorption of the Public School 
Society in 1853, neither of the two bodies was enabled to pay 
marked attention to this important subject. The time, means, 
and energies of the first were fully occupied, through the 
local boards, in establishing the various schools which were 
called for by the people of their respective wards. The lat- 
ter body, as we have seen, had more than enough to do in 
continuing the schools already in their charge. 

But the attention of the benevolent had by no means re- 
laxed in relation to the interests of this class of our popula- 
tion. Various societies had sprung up in rapid succession, 
many of them occupying wide fields of labor, and most of 
them making the amelioration of the condition of children an 
important, if not the principal department of their efforts. 
Among these we may mention as yet in full and useful oper- 
ation, the Home of the Fi'iendless^ established in 1818,' with 
its dependent schools, now seven in number and providing 
last year for some 3700 little ones ; the Five Points' House of 
Industry and the Five Points' Mission in 1850 ; the Juvenile 
Asylum, the Orphan Home of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
and the New York House and School of Industry in 1851 ; and 
the Children's Aid Society in 1853, now numbering, among 
its many-sided operations, sixteen schools, with nearly 2500 
on their rolls, and providing more or less during the past 
3^ear for the education, food, and. clothing of at least 4000 
children. Conspicuous among the various agencies in this 
unspeakably important work, directly or indirectly originat- 
ing many of the above-named ^ institutions, and assisting 
many thousands of suffering families so as to enable them to 
keep their children at the Public Schools, was that yet active 
society, the " New York Association for Improving the Con- 
dition of the Poor." 

The efforts of the Eoman Catholic Church have also been 
largely directed to the same field, and many noble institu- 
tions both on this island and its immediate neighborhood 

» The American Female Guardian Society itself was founded in 1834. 



12G mSTORY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION. 

bear eloquent witness to tlie comprehensive and practical 
benevolence of this ancient organization. 

Most of these schools and asylums, together with others 
previously or since established, have been admitted to partici- 
pate in the school moneys, subject to the inspection of the 
Board of Education ; a list of those so participating will be 
found in the statistical portion of this report. 

In 1853, under pressure of the inlluencc of large numbers 
of benevolent persons, the Legislature passed a stringent truant 
law, applicable to cities and incorporated villages throughout 
the state. " It authorized the arrest of all such children be- 
tween five and fourteen years of age, and their examination 
before a magistrate. If their parents or guardians did not 
give bonds to send them to school or keep them employed, 
then the magistrate could issue his warrant to commit them 
to some place of detention — the almshouse, jail, or peniten- 
tiary, until they could be. bound out to service. It was 
made the duty of the cities and villages to provide some suit- 
able place for the reception of such children, their emploj-- 
ment, and their education in the elementary branches of 
knowledge, and for their proper support and clothing."' 

About this period the subject became a prominent topic 
of interest in the deliberations of the Board of Education. 
Scarcely a year has since passed in which it has not been felt 
to be a matter of extreme concern, and in some years has been 
the chief subject of anxiety. There are two principal consider- 
ations which have constituted the basis of this anxiety : first, 
and most important, the urgent necessities of this particular 
class of children themselves ; and, secondly, the fact that the 
necessity to the whole community that education should be 
universal is a main, and even the chief argument for its public 
support ; in other words, that the increase of this necessitous 
and dangerous class of our juvenile population places in jeop- 
ardy the very foundations of public instruction. The ques- 
tion has been attacked with greater or less vigor. Its con- 
sideration by successive Boards, constitutes a very large share 
* As given in abstract in Superintendent Rice's Report. 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 127 

of the documentary history, but it still remains an unsolved 
problem. The difficulties are manifold, and complex in their 
character. The Board of Education very properly has no form 
of police power. The authority to arrest vagrants, and the 
authority to dispose of them, are committed to other and not al- 
ways harmonious branches of the city government. There is 
also a deep-seated feeling that the masses of our city popula- 
tion, and especially the classes more directly interested, would 
not peaceably allow the general enforcement of such laws as 
we now have. It is also apprehended that the cry of " relig- 
ious proselytism" might easily be raised upon the slightest ba- 
sis, popular resentment of official interference be aroused upon 
the occurrence of some unavoidable mistake, and the peace 
of the community be thus put in danger. These fears are 
probably more or less unfounded, yet, in connection with 
some other considerations, they have heretofore assisted to pre- 
vent any continued and general effort to carry out the pro- 
vision of the law. Already overburdened with so many 
other duties and responsibilities, our justices naturally shrink 
from a department of action so difficult, troublesome, and 
delicate. While the openly vicious and criminal may be 
promptly disposed of, police officers would naturally hesi- 
tate to arrest children whose only crime is to have parents 
so poor as to be unable to furnish them sufficient clothing to 
go to school, who possess no home but the crowded, ill- venti- 
lated room in some dirty tenement-housQ^ and whose only 
place of exercise is the public street. The number of those 
who may be classed as suffering extreme poverty is beyond 
conception, except to those whose self-imposed philanthopic 
labors have made them familiar with the homes of the poor. 
The experience of the Public School Society has been again 
and again confirmed by that of the Ward Schools. Where 
the lowest orders of such pupils are brought in, it seems al- 
most impossible to induce them to continue, and the causes 
of this must be obvious to every experienced student of hu- 
man nature. In the majority of instances, both they and their 
parents are extremely sensitive concerning their personal ap- 



128 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

pearance when brought into contrast with those who are bet- 
ter provided for, and avoid this added suffering by their ab- 
sence. Both children and parents need material aid — food 
and clothing, and the opportunities and inducements to per- 
sonal cleanliness. These are indispensable in securing their 
attendance, but their supply is beyond the province of the 
Board of Education. It has again and again been demon- 
strated that the efforts of public officials must ever be inade- 
quate to master the giant evil. The demoralizing effect of 
training this class of the community to rely upon public sup- 
port instead of their own exertions is but too well known. 

It is these considerations that give such importance and 
value to the labors of the benevolent societies that have made 
this the chief or entire department of their philanthropic ef- 
forts. A host of unofficial visitors and other agents actuated 
by the noblest motives, and learning by continued experience 
a proper discrimination in granting relief, reduce the evils 
both of destitution and of injudicious charity to their lowest 
practicable limits, and endeavor to assist the poor to the oppor- 
tunities and habits of self-reliance. The individual history 
of these excellent institutions does not lie within the province 
of this report. 

In regard to the number of children between five and fifteen 
who do not attend any school in the course of the year, the 
most vague estimates have been made, ranging from 20,000 
to 60,000. No thorough school census of the city has ever yet 
been taken ; the nearest approach to it being that already re- 
ferred to in 1829, and the more fall one embodied in the sta- 
tistical tables of this report. 

There is great difficulty in making any correct estimate 
of the number of children in our city who never attend any 
school. It has been set as high as fifty or even sixty thou- 
sand. That any such estimate is merely an extravagant 
guess, will be apparent from a few considerations. The 
present total population is probably not far from one million. 
The many lines of travel by boat and rail radiating from the 
city as a centre have removed from us to suburban homes a 



THE VAGRANT QUESTION. 129 

large proportion of a class of families which farnish the most 
regular attendants upon schools both public and private. In 
consequence of this, there is an increased proportion of poor 
families in every grade of poverty whose children's services 
are indispensable to their parents, either from the wages di- 
rectly earned, or by their staying at home in charge of those 
yet younger while both parents are away at employment. 
This causes a very irregular attendance. The wide prevalence 
of this state of things is in part indicated by the fact as shown 
by the special census after making all allowances that there are 
15,000 less girls who can attend school during the year than 
there are boys. Most of these have been several years at 
school, though more or less irregularly, but were withdrawn, 
as the school registers show, at as early an age as ten or 
eleven years, or even younger. They can not, in any just 
estimate, be classed as vagrants. So great is the demand for 
the services of children, both boys and girls, that only 29 per 
cent, of school children, regular and irregular, are twelve 
years of age or over. 

The numerous parochial schools include great numbers 
of the same class, those supported by the Catholic Church 
dlone reporting their whole number taught during the year 
at over sixteen thousand. A large part of the newspaper boys 
and bootblacks attend school during a part of the day, and 
follow their out-door occupation before and after school-hours. 
Of the rest, most have reached or are beyond the years at 
which the greater number ofpupils leave school permanently. 
Very many of these attend evening school. As already 
stated, our total population is not far from a million. The 
proportion of clerks and other resident adults from country 
districts is very large, and greatly reduces the proportionate 
number of school children. The whole number reported as 
taught in all the various grades of public and private schools 
is about 270,000. Deducting from this 25,000 for adults in 
the various advanced institutions and in the evening schools, 
and 27,000 attending private schools, besides the large num- 
ber taught at home, and making every allowance for pupils 

I 



130 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

counted twice by reason of readmission or removal of res- 
idence, and for those who attend first the public and then the 
parochial schools, it will be apparent that of unemployed cliil- 
dren of school age who attend school during no part of the 
year, the number, though far too great, must be much less 
than is usually estimated, probably not exceeding ten or fif- 
teen thousand, if indeed it is so many. For a more exact es- 
timate, we need yet to know the actual population of the city, 
the real number within the school age, and the number of re- 
admissions annually made in all schools, private, public, and 
parochial. 

To this end it is highly desirable that the Board of Edu- 
cation should cause a special census of the city to be taken, to 
ascertain with the utmost possible accuracy all the necessary 
data — not only the actual numbers of such children, but the 
special condition of each locality in all important details. 
Such a measure will furnish the essential basis for a systematic 
and intelligent practical treatment of the evil. The necessary 
expense of such census would be well repaid in the beneficial 
results sure to follow. 



\ 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 131 



XVL 

ORGANIZATION AND PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 

Number and Classification of Schools. — Primary Schools. — Grammar Schools. 
— Evening Schools. — Normal Schools. — Colored Schools. — Condition 
and Course of Study of each. — College of the City of New York. — 
Teachers. — Their Examination, License, Appointment, Removal, Sal- 
aries. — General Control and Supervision. — Departments of the Clerk 
and Superintendent. 

The sctiools under the full control of the Board of Edu- 
cation and the local boards are designated as Primary, Gram- 
mar, Evening, and Normal Schools. Each of these classes 
is divided into schools for whites and schools for colored pu- 
pils, the latter being known as Colored Schools. The insti- 
tution recently known as the Free Academy, which was un- 
der the direct and sole control of the Board of Education, 
has been erected into the College of the City of New York, 
with all the ordinary powers and privileges of such institu- 
tions, the members of the Board of Education being ex officio 
its trustees. It is therefore a separate and distinct organi- 
zation, and not under the control of the Board. 

Besides these, are forty -one schools, under a variety of 
benevolent associations, subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Board of Education, and participating in the apportionment 
of school moneys. 

The corporate schools are variously distributed, more than 
half of them being Industrial Schools, under the control of 
the American Female Guardian Society and the Children's 
Aid Society, the latter organization having sixteen schools. 

The condition of the different classes of schools will be 
briefly considered. The course of study in each is also sub- 
mitted. 



132 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



The following list exhibits the classification and whole 
number of schools : 



Normal Schools . , , 

Grammar Schools for boys only, 
Grammar Schools for girls only 

Grammar Schools for mixed 

Primary Schools for mixed , 

Evening Schools for males , 

Evening Schools for females.... 

Evening Scliools for mixed 

Evening High School , 

Corporate Schools 

Total 



1 
40 
42 

9 
87 
13 
11 



1 
37 



241 



c 
u 

K 
C 

o 



1 

2 
2 
2 
'> 


3 

4 



19 



O 



42 
44 
11 
92 
13 
11 

r> 
O 

I 

41 



2G0 



PRIIVIARY SCHOOLS. 

The City Superintendent of Schools has provided for a 
thorough supervision of the various schools and departments, 
by assigning to two of his assistants the special charge of the 
Primary Schools. Every effort is being made, with the co- 
operation of the local officers, to advance these schools to 
their highest possible efficiency. The most improved meth- 
ods of instruction are introduced, incompetent or unfaithful 
teachers are carefully weeded out, and the sure progress of 
the system in general provided for in the better training of 
these little ones, who will soon, in their turn, constitute the 
more advanced departments. 

On the importance of this class of schools it is not neces- 
sary to dwell. Their pupils are a majority of the whole 
number under instruction. The large foreign element in our 
city, and its peculiar character and condition, with the great 
number of those who, from various causes, are only able to 
keep their children at school for a limited period, render these 
Primaries, in some respects, the most valuable and essential 
part of our whole system. A large part of the pupils are not 
able to continue their attendance through the Grammar De- 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 13 



o 



partments. Many reach only the higher classes in these in- 
troductory schools. It is therefore the more essential that 
the training in these shall be of the highest order suitable for 
their grade, and that the course of study be arranged so as to 
meet as fully as possible the necessities of the case. 

The efficiency and popularity of these departments are un- 
mistakably manifested in their universally crowded condition. 
From every part of our city the cry comes to us for more 
room. Greatly increased accommodation in this respect is 
urgently needed. Many of these schools have several hun- 
dreds more in attendance than they can in any proper sense 
accommodate. Should all be provided with room, with proper 
reference to the laws of health and the best opportunities for 
instruction, should the space allotted to each pupil be equal 
to that which is given in some other cities, it is evident that 
we should have many more school edifices, and that this 
would only supply the present demand, without any refer- 
ence to the increased attendance from year to year. 

The high rents and the great number of tenement houses, 
exert a marked influence upon school accommodation. With 
the advancing rates, a greater and greater number of families 
come to occupy a given number of houses, and the number 
of children attending school in the district steadily increases. 
The character of their homes renders it all the more essential 
that the school-room should present the opposite condition of 
things, and supply the maximum of light, and air, and room 
consistent with a true economy. 

When this crowded state of these departments is taken 
into consideration, the excellent condition of these schools, 
as regards both discipline and scholarship, is a remarkable 
evidence of the skill, patience, and energy of the teachers, 
and of the efficiency of the general management which has 
made these traits the rule and not the exception. Never, in 
their entire history, have they been in so decided a condition 
of usefulness ; never have the results of the instruction given 
been of so high an order ; yet, with proper accommodation, 
even these results must be exceeded. 



134. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION". 

The following is the 

COURSE OF STUDIES IX PRIMARY SCHOOLS : 

Fifth Grade. — Alphabet Class. — Reading — Alphabet and familiar words 
from blackboard or chart ; exercises in euunciating simple elementary sounds 
of letters. 

Numeral Frame — Counting and adding on numeral frame by ones and by 
twos. 

Arabic Figtires — Eeading at sight any number from 1 to 99. 

Object Lessons — Teaching the children, by means of common objects, to 
observe simple forms, colors, positions, and parts of objects, of the human 
body, and of familiar animals ; each lesson to be conducted with a view to cul- 
tivate habits of attention and observation. 

Primer Class. — Reading and Spelling from chaits, blackboard, and primer, 
with illustrations of the meaning of the words used ; exercises in enumerating 
elementary sounds of letters. 

Numeral Frame — Adding on numeral frame by twos, threes, fours, and 
fives ; also taking away ones, twos, and threes, from greater numbei's. 

Arabic Figures — Eeading at sight numbers through three figures (999), and 
writing numbers on slates as far as 100. 

Roman Ntembers — I, V, and X, with their combinations. 

Object Lessons — The subjects of the alphabet class continued, with new ob- 
jects and illustrations. 

Tables — Adding with and without the numeral frame, by fours, fives, sixes, 
sevens, eights, nines, and tens ; also taking threes, fours, and fives from great- 
er numbers. 

Mental Arithmetic. — Simple questions in addition, chiefly with concrete 
numbers. 

Object Lessons — On form, color, place, size, and parts of objects, for leading 
the pupils to make observations on common things not in the school-room. 
Let the teacher give simple descriptions of familiar objects, and the pupils give 
their names from the descriptions. 

Lessons in Morals and Manners — Continued by means of school incidents, 
reading lessons, etc. 

Third Grade. — Reading — In the last half of a First, or the first half of a 
Second Reader. 

Spelling — With simple definitions ; also spelling by the elementary sounds, 
as far as necessary, to correct faults in pronunciation. 

Punctuation — With the uses of the common marks in the sentences read. 

Roman Numbers — Through C, D, and ^M. 

Wntten Arithmetic — Numeration through 100,000,000; additions through 
examples of six or seven short columns. 

Mental Arithmetic — Simple questions in addition and subtraction. 

Multiplication Table — Through 6 times 12. 

Object Lessons — Continued on form, color, place, size, and human body, 
with lessons on animals, plants, common minerals, and qualities and uses of 



PKESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. -135 

objects, directing the children's attention to such qualities only as may be 
readily perceived. Place forms, familiar objects, and pictures, before the pu- 
pils, and request them to give simple descriptions. 

Lessons in Morals and Manners. — Continued. 

Second Grade. — Reading — In a Second Reader. 

Spelling and Definitions— The. meaning of words illustrated by their use in 
short oral sentences ; also exercises in elementary sounds, continued as above. 

Punctuation — Continued with applications. 

Roman Numbers — Reviewed. 

Wntten Arithmetic — Through subtraction, and in multiplication by one 
figure. 

Mental Arithmetic — In subtraction and multiplication. 

Multiplication Talk — Through 12 times 12. 

Drawing and Writing on Slates— Yvoxa copies on blackboard or charts. 

Object Lessons — Extend the subjects of the preceding grade. 

Lessons in Morals and Manners — Continued. 

FiKST Grade. — Reading — Lessons of the grade of those in the last half of 
Second Reader. 

Spelling and Definitions— 1\iQ pupils to illustrate the meaning of words by 
using them in short sentences, oral or written. 

Written Arithmetic— Through multiplication and division by two figures, 
with simple practical applications. 

Mental Arithmetic — In multiplication and division. 

j-at/es— Division, time, weights, measures, and Federal money, taught by il- 
lustrations as far as practicable. 

■ ■ Geographij— 'From outline maps— the hemispheres, and North and South 
America ; also the definition and description of continents, mountains, islands, 
bays, rivers, etc. 

Writing and Drawing on Slates— Yrom copies, also writing from dictation 
words and short sentences. 

Object Lessons— Select objects that require descriptions which will embrace 
form, color, size, parts, uses, materials, etc. Extend place so as to include 
the chief objects in the local geography of the city and the prominent locations 
in this vicinity; adding descriptions necessary to prepare the pupil for an in- 
telligent use of text-books on geography. 

lessons in Morals and Manners — Continued. 

Vocal ikfasjc— Practiced throughout the school. 

Home Lessons — No lessons shall be given to be studied after school-hours, 
nor shall any text-book be taken from the schools except by pupils in the two 
higher classes. 

GRAMVIAR SCHOOLS. 

A corresponding arrangement is made in the case of the 
Grammar Departments. Two of the assistant superintend- 
ents are especially assigned to this class of schools, thus in- 



1S& HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

suring, as in the case of the Primary Departments, a minute- 
ness of supervision and a consequent thoroughness and ef- 
ficiency that, in the result, may safely challenge a parallel in 
any school system in the world. 

The course of study for Grammar Schools presents six reg- 
ular grades and several supplementary. These last are in- 
tended to meet the wants of a large number of pupils whose 
parents desire to have them instructed in certain subjects be- 
yond the ordinary Grammar School Course. A glance at 
the list will show the high character of the instruction de- 
manded. Many of these pupils remain with the design of 
becoming teachers, and the largest part of the appointments 
made by the various local boards are of graduates from these 
supplementary classes. 

In all the Grammar School grades much attention is given 
to arithmetic, both for its directly utilitarian and for its dis- 
ciplinary character. While securing a thorough knowledge 
of business arithmetic, beginning, as will be seen from the 
following course of study, at an elementary stage, at every 
step of the process the subject is made the means of disciplin- 
ing the reasoning powers — of doing for the lower part of the 
course of study that which geometry does for the higher. 

Mere rules are never relied upon, are not learned till a 
pupil has been taught to give clearly, and in his own lan- 
guage, a connected statement of the course of reasoning in- 
volved in the solution of the problem. Servile dependence 
upon a text-book is never allowed. The teacher is required 
to teach the subject, and not the book, which, when used at 
all, is to be onlj'- an accessory.' It is this vigorous process 

' The following extract from a recent special report upon the schools of the 
city of New York very clearly indicates the plan pursued, and its importance 
as an element in the system. 

"But the most important feature in the New York Schools is that the 
course of instruction is indicated by the s^uhject of studi/, and not by text-bools. 
There is no uniformity of text-books. The local committee, the trustees in 
each ward, order the use of such as they njay select from the list permitted by 
the Board of Education, and they are sometimes similar and sometimes differ- 
ent in different schools. But the Board of Education determine the subjects 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 487 

of training, applied not only to arithmetic, but, with the 
proper modifications, to all other subjects of study that, stead- 
ily accumulating its results as the successive grades are reach- 
ed, and fixing the proper mental habits, is the chief agent in 
that constant advance of the system to which reference has 
b^en made, and which becomes more and more operative as 
the teachers throughout the city enter into its spirit. 

Much attention is given to geography, as being important 
in a commercial city, as an assistant to a proper knowledge 
of history, as indispensable in preparing for that great teacher 
of the citizen, the daily newspaper, and as a means of disci- 
plining the mind while increasing the general intelligence, 
and developing the ability of the pupil to give a clear, con- 
nected, oral statement. As will be seen, the other subjects 
receive due share of attention. 

COUESE OF INSTRUCTION IN GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. 

Sixth Grade. — Beading, of the grade of a Third Eeader, with a review of 
punctuation and Roman numbers, and exercises on the subject-matter of the 
lessons; spelling and definitions, from the reading lessons, with exercises on 

that shall be pursued by the different grades, and these are uniform in all the 
grades, and in all the schools ; and as the programme of instruction and study 
is thus indicated by subjects, the examination is by subjects, and not by text- 
books, and is conducted by experts — by the Superintendent and his assistants 
— that is, by persons who are masters of the subject, and care nothing about 
particular text-books. * * * * fphe New York teacher, on the other hand, 
knowing that his pupils are to be examined not by or in any particular text- 
book which he uses, but in the general subject of that text-book, and that they 
will be expected to know all about it up to the point which the pupils of that 
grade should reach at the time of the examination, has no inducement to con- 
tine himself too closely to the text-book, or to make its particular forms the 
mode and limit of his instruction. On the contrary, the text-book becomes 
only a help, hardly a guide, and nothing of a restraint or boundary ; but through 
that, and a large amount of oral instruction and conversation, the teachers 
aim to give the pupils a broad, general comprehension of the subject, so that 
they may understand and be able to answer questions on that subject in what- 
ever form they are put. * * * * The two features which have just been consid- 
ered — the programme of instruction indicated by subjects, and not by text-books, 
and the consequent examination by the Superintendent in subjects, and not in 
text-books, seem to be giving to the New York Schools a remarkable degree 
of uniformity, and a steady progress in each school." — Boston Report, 1866. 



138 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

the formation, spelling, and definition of compound and derivative words; the 
meaning of words also to be illustrated by requiring the pupils to use them in 
sentences ; written arithmetic, through the simple rules and Federal money, 
with practical applications ; mental arithmetic, as far as in written arithmetic, 
to include exercises in the analysis of operations and examples, and in rapid 
calculation without analysis; tables of weights, measures, etc., reviewed, with 
jjractical illustrations ; geography, primary geography reviewed, and outlines 
of North America, including the United States, with definitions, and illustra- 
tions by means of the globe, of the form, magnitude, and motions of the earth, 
latitude and longitude, etc. 

Fifth Grade. — Reading, of the grade of a Third Reader (latter half), with 
exercises as in the Sixth Grade ; spelling and definitions, from the reading les- 
sons, with the exercises of the preceding grade, continued ; written arithmetic, 
through common fractions, with their simple practical applications ; mental 
arithmetic, to the same extent as in written arithmetic, with exercises in anal- 
ysis and calculation ; geography — to include a full knowledge of the United 
States, and the other divisions of North America, including descriptive geog- 
raphy. 

Fourth Grade. — Reading, of the grade of a Fourth Reader, with exercises 
as in the preceding grades ; spelling and definitions, as in the preceding grades ; 
with instruction in the meaning of the prefixes of derivative words ; written 
arithmetic, through decimal fractions, and their practical applications, with a 
review of common fractions ; mental arithmetic — analysis of common and dec- 
imal fractions, with exercises in calculation ; geography, local and descrip- 
tive, through South America, with a review of North America ; English gram- 
mar commenced — the analysis and parsing of sentences, containing principal 
parts and simple word adjuncts, with definitions of the terms used. 

Third Grade. — Reading, of the grade of a Fourth Reader (latter half), 
with particular attention to emphasis, intonations, and variety of expression, 
and with exercises on the subject-matter continued ; spelling and definitions 
from the reading lessons, with cxei-cises in writing miscellaneous words from 
dictation, and instruction in the prefixes and suffixes of derivatives ; written 
arithmetic, through the compound rules and reduction, with denominate frac- 
tions, both common and decimal ; mental arithmetic — a review of preceding 
grades, with exercises in calculation and analysis applied to compound num- 
bers and denominate fractions ; geography, both local and descriptive, through 
Europe and its divisions ; English grammar, the analysis and parsing of sen- 
tences, with simple phrase or clause adjuncts ; history of the United States — 
early discoveries, and the outlines of colonial history. 

Second Grade. — Reading, of the grade of a Fifth Reader, with exercises 
as in the Third Grade ; spelling from the reading lessons, with exercises in 
writing miscellaneous words, and in the analysis and construction of words 
according to the rules for spelling ; definitions, from the reading lessons, 
with instructions in etymology, including the prefixes and suffixes, and easy 
Latin roots; written and mental arithmetic, through percentage, and its ap- 
plication to commission, insurance, stocks, and interest, both simple and com- 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 139 

pound ; geography, both local and descriptive, through Asia, Africa, and Oce- 
anica; English grammar — the analysis and parsing of easy complex and com- 
pound sentences, with exercises in the correction of false syntax and in com- 
position ; history of the United States tlirough the War of the Revolution ; 
algebra (for boys only), through fractions. 

FiKST Grade. — Reading, spelling, and definitions, as in the Second Grade ; 
etymology continued, with the analysis of words and their formation from 
given roots ; written and mental arithmetic, for girls, through the problems of 
interest, discount, profit and loss, and proportion ; for boys, through evolution ; 
exercises as in preceding grades ; geography, local and descriptive, reviewed, 
with outlines of physical geography, and exercises in map drawing; English 
grammar — the analysis and parsing of sentences of ordinary construction, with 
the correction of false syntax, and exercises in composition ; history of the 
United States — outlines completed and reviewed ; astronomy — the solar sys- 
tem, with a description of the sun and planets, and definition of terms ; Con- 
stitution of the United States and book-keeping (for boys exclusively) ; algebra 
(for boys), through simple equations. 

Penmanship shall be taught in each grade of the above course. Instruction 
in sewing may be given in the Female Schools. 

Every pupil passing a thorough examination in the studies prescribed for 
the Grammar School Course shall receive a certificate of graduation for that 
course which shall entitle to promotion to the Supplementary Course. 

SUPPLEMENTARY COURSE OF STUDIES FOR FEMALE GRAMMAR 

SCHOOLS. 

In addition to the regular course of studies above prescribed, the following 
Supplementary Course may be pursued in the Female Grammar Schools: 

Second Grade. — For a period not less than one year ; arithmetic and En- 
glish grammar reviewed ; physiology ; astronomy ; algebra, through simple 
equations ; natural philosophy, including mechanics, hydrostatics, and pneu- 
matics ; ancient history ; geometry, through the first book of Legendre, or an 
equivalent ; composition ; elocution. 

First Grade. — For a period not less than one year ; review of English 
grammar and arithmetic ; algebra, through quadratic equations ; higher as- 
tronomy ; natural philosophy, completed ; rhetoric and composition ; modern 
history ; geometry, through the fourth book of Legendre, or an equivalent ; 
elocution. 

SUPPLEMENTARY COURSE FOR MALE GRAMMAR SCHOOLS. 

The following course of studies may be pursued in the Male Grammar 
Schools, to occupy one year or more, as may be necessary ; arithmetic and En- 
glish grammar, continued and reviewed ; algebra, througli quadratic equa- 
tions ; geometry, first four books of Legendre, or an equivalent ; mensura- 
tion ; elements of natural philosophy, chemistry, and astronomy, science of 
government, including a knowledge of the government of the United States, 



140 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

and the general provisions of the State Constitutions, with a brief outline of 
municipal and international law ; book-keeping ; mechanical and architectural 
drawing ; declamation and composition. 

STUDENTS FOR SUPPLEMENTARY COURSE, HOW SELECTED. 

The City Superintendent of Schools, or one of the assistant superintendents, 
shall select at every examination of a Grammar School such of the pupils as 
may be found qualified to pursue the Supplementary Course, and additional 
pupils, who have not attended any Grammar School during the year next pre- 
vious, may also be admitted to the Supplementary Course by the principal of 
the school ; but no class shall be formed iu the Supplementary Course with less 
tlian fifteen pupils, nor shall any such class be continued, if tiie actual average 
attendance of pupils for a period of three months be less than fifteen. 

MUSIC, DRAWING, LATIN, GERMAN, ETC. 

Exercises in vocal music shall be given in each Primary and Grammar 
School, and instruction in musical notation and reading shall be given to the 
pupils of the First, Second, and Third Grades, and of the Supplementary Course 
in Grammar Scliools ; drawing, with exercises in perspective, and the delinea- 
tion of objects, shall be taught in the same grades. The Board of Trustees 
may also authorize the Latin language to be taught in any Grammar School 
in the ward in which the Supplementary Course is pursued ; but the same 
shall be taught only by teachers emi)loycd in the schools to give instruction in 
other branches of study. The French or German language may be pursued in 
connection with the studies of the first and second grades, and the Supplement- 
ary Course of studies. 

A WEEKLY REVIEW IN EACH CLASS. 

Once in each week there shall be in every class of each course a review of 
tlie studies of the pi-evious week, at which review all text-books shall be laid 
aside by teachers and pupils. 

PUPILS PASSING EXAMINATION IN STUDIES OF SUPPLEMENTARY 
COURSE ENTITLED TO GRADUATION. 

Every pupil passing a thorough examination in the studies prescribed for 
the Supplementary Course shall be entitled to a full certificate of graduation. 

REGULATION OP STUDIES OUT OF SCHOOL. 

No lesson shall be given to a pupil to be learned out of school, until it shall 
liave been sufficiently explained and illustrated by the teacher to the class ; 
nor sh.all the lessons assigned for such preparation be such as to acquire a pe- 
riod of study each day, in the case of a child of average capacity, longer than 
two hours. Exercises in giammatical analysis and parsing, and written and 
mental arithmetic, shall not be assigned for home study except to pupils in the 
First Grade or the Supplementary Course. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 141 

LIMITATION OF STUDIES TO THE PRESCRIBED GRADE. 

The studies of each grade shall be pursued in the order herein prescribed, 
and without the addition of any study or studies belonging to a higher grade 
or to the Supplementary Course. 

REVIEW TO PRECEDE EXAMINATION" FOR PROMOTION. 

Every examination for promotion to a higher grade, shall be preceded by a 
thorough review of all the studies pursued in the previous one. 

CITY SUPERINTENDENT TO REPORT VIOLATION OF COURSE OP 

STUDIES. 

It shall be the duty of the City Superintendent and his assistants, at each 
visitation of a school or department, to inquire specially whether the provisions 
relating to the course of study have been strictly followed ; and the City Su- 
perintendent shall, without delay, report the case of any violation of the same 
to the Board, stating the name of the principal of the school and the teacher 
of the class concerned in such violation. 



EVENING SCHOOLS. 

The Evening School system constitutes an important part 
of the educational institutions of the city. The tendency in 
our day to diminish the number of hours given to physical 
labor is giving time and opportunity for mental improvement 
to thousands who have hitherto been cut off from such ad- 
vantages. 

The advanced age of the pupils, as compared with those 
of the Day Schools, brings with it greater maturity of judg- 
ment, and a more just estimate of the value of the opportuni- 
ties which the school offers. After making all allowances for 
the exhausting effects of previous physical labor upon the 
nervous system, there still remains a capacity for improve- 
ment which, whenever the will of the pupil is fully aroused, 
leads, under judicious training, to the most valuable results. 

For the present season, these schools are twenty-five in num- 
ber — thirteen for males and twelve for females. Each school 
is held in a separate building. The term commences on the 
first Monday in October, and, exclusive of the usual holiday 
vacation, continues for eighteen weeks. The sessions are held 
five evenings in each week, from 7 to 9|- p.m. for the males. 



142 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 

and from 6|- to 9 p.m. for the females. No pupils are admit- 
ted excepting those whose ages or avocations are such as to 
prevent their attending the Day Schools. At the application 
for admission, they must be accompanied by some responsible 
person, or present to the principal some satisfactory evidence 
as to their identity and respectability. No male pupil is ad- 
mitted who has not reached the age of fourteen years, and no 
female who has not attained the age of twelve. This restric- 
tion as to age has been found necessary in certain cases, in 
order to restrain parents from taking their children from the 
Day School at too early an age for physical labor, and rely- 
ing upon the Evening School as a means of their obtaining the 
rudiments of an education. 

Eeading, spelling, definitions, and penmanship are taught 
in all the classes. When the other attainments will justify it, 
geography is taught by means of the outline map and oral in- 
struction. No female teacher can be employed in any Even- 
ing School for males who has not had at least two years ex- 
perience as a teacher in a male Grammar School, and no 
teacher can hold a position of any grade in any Evening 
School who has not been specially licensed for such position 
by the City Superintendent of Schools. 

Corporal punishment is not allowed, the penalty for per- 
sistent disobedience or immoral conduct being dismission, and 
pupils thus dismissed can not be admitted to any Evening 
School in the city without the consent of the City Superin- 
tendent of Schools, into whose hands the general supervision 
is committed, with essentially the same powers and duties as 
in the case of the Day Schools. 

The principals of these schools are required to report ev- 
ery two weeks to the Clerk of the Board the average attend- 
ance of pupils and the number of teachers employed. In case 
the average per teacher falls below thirty, the number of 
teachers is reduced, while, if increased attendance will warrant 
it, additional teachers are employed. ^ 

Adult classes are an interesting feature in these Evening 
Schools. Every effort is made to attract that large class of 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 143 

persons already spoken of whose hours of labor are such as 
to give time and opportunity to devote a part of their even- 
ings to improving their education. In several localities, large 
numbers of foreigners attend for the purpose of learning the 
language. In one male school on the east side of the city, no 
less than four hundred Germans attended with this object, and 
were taught by three competent teachers. 

EVENING HIGH SCHOOL FOR MALES. 
The sessions of the school begin on the first Monday in 
October, and are held for a term of twenty-four weeks, exclu- 
sive of the holiday vacation. The restrictions in regard to 
admission are similar to those of the other Evening Schools, 
excepting in the higher grades of attainment necessary. Pu- 
pils are required to pass a good examination in reading, spell- 
ing, elementary geography, and grammar, and in arithmetic, 
through common and decimal fractions, and their applications 
to denominate numbers. 



COURSE OP STUDY. 

The course of study embraces the following branches : English grammar 
and composition ; reading and declamation ; penmanship, book-keeping, and 
arithmetic ; algebra, geometry, and trigonometry ; natural philosophy, chemis- 
try, and astronomy ; American history and political science, the latter to in- 
clude a knowledge of the Constitution of the United States, the State Consti- 
tution, with the outlines of municipal and international law; architectural and 
mechanical drawing ; practical mechanics ; navigation ; and the French, Span- 
ish, or German languages may also be taught, provided the number applying 
for instruction in the same or any one of them shall be at least fifteen. No 
class thus formed shall be continued in case the average attendance for the 
period of one month shall be less than ten. 

Pupils may be admitted to receive instruction in any part of the course, or 
in any single branch of study under the direction of the principal, and it shall 
be the duty of the latter to arrange an order of exercises for each evening, 
and give public notice of the same. 

In addition to the principal, there shall be a teacher of English grammar, 
reading, and declamation ; a teacher of penmanship, arithmetic, and book- 
keeping ; a teacher of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry ; a teacher of nat- 
ural philosophy, chemistry, and astronomy ; and a teacher of history and po- 
litical science, with such other assistants and special teachers as may be re- 
quired. 



1-14 niSTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

The classes and special subjects are taught by a full corps 
of teachers of high ability, among them several experienced 
principals of Grammar Schools, under a competent general 
manasrcmcnt. 

NOR]kL\X SCHOOLS. 

There are two Normal Schools, one for white and the 
other for colored teachers. The sessions are held on the Sat- 
urday of each week, from 9 a.m. to 1 r.M. The pupils 
are themselves teachers, engaged in the several schools during 
the week, or graduates from the supplementary classes of the 
Grammar Schools who desire to become teachers. 

Every teacher employed in a Primary or Grammar School 
holds the Superintendent's certificate of qualification and li- 
cense to teach, which is either of the first, second, or the third 
grade, and known as A, B, or C. Certificates of Gi-ade C are 
no longer issued, although a limited number of the Primary 
teachers continue to hold them. Those holdins; the certifi- 
cate of Grade A are excused from other *than voluntary at- 
tendance upon the Normal Schools ; those holding Grade B 
are excused if teaching in the Primary Schools ; all othei's, 
unless excused by the Committee on Normal Schools, are re- 
quired to attend until they obtain at the Normal School ex- 
aminations a higher grade certificate. The teachers thus at- 
tending as pupils are formed into classes having a course of 
study in many respects similar to that of the supplementary 
classed of the Grammar Schools. Their number is steadily 
diminishing, few appointments being now made unless with 
certificate of Grade A. 

But by fiXT the largest and most interesting portion of the 
actual attendance is of a voluntary nature, and the number 
is steadih' increasing. These pupils are formed into what 
are known as the post-graduate classes; they already hold 
the highest certificate required, yet attend the school for 
mutual benefit and instruction. It is therefore a perpetual 
"teachers' institute " of a high order. Among the most reg- 
ular attendants are many of our experienced and successful 



PKESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. ,145 

principals of Primary and Grammar Schools, who week by 
week set the noble example of placing themselves as learn- 
ers side by side with their junior assistants, many or most of 
whom have been their own pupils. The exercises are almost 
exclusively normal in character, and have special reference 
in the several post-graduate classes, to the wants of the 
teachers of the Primary, Grammar School, or supplementary 
portions of the general course. An earnest desire is mani- 
fested to learn, discuss, and adopt the best methods of instruc- 
tion and discipline, and to assist in every way in advancing 
the general character of the system. The exercises being as 
far as possible conversational, or made the subject of discus- 
sion, it will be seen that the amount, variety, and character 
of the experience thus concentrated and contributed must 
make this school a central point of influence of our entire 
system. 

"When it is remembered that all this is voluntarily done, 
at the cost of a large part of the Saturday holiday, and at 
the close of a week of severe labor, it is not too much to say 
that such a spirit manifested by those holding such high po- 
sitions is one of the strongest assurances that can be given 
that the system has the elements of a true and healthful 
growth, and that it y/ill continue to hold and to deserve the 
confidence of the community. 

Another element which distinctly marks the function of 
this interesting school is the fact that its classes are in the 
charge of veteran teachers, nearly all of whom are principals 
of Grammar Departments, and that included in the corps are 
three of the City Superintendents, one of whom is the princi- 
pal of both the Normal Schools. The Saturday's instruction 
is thus made to tell with the utmost directness upon both 
Primary and Grammar Schools, contributing no small share 
to the excellence of the general result. 

COLORED SCHOOLS. 
These are graded in the same manner as those for white 
children, into Primary, Grammar, and Normal Schools. Aft- 

K 



146 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION". 

er being the cliarge of a special committee of tlie Public 
School Society, they passed in 1853 to the care of the school 
officers of the several wards in which they are situated. The 
change was not, upon the whole, beneficial. While, in some 
cases, they received proper attention, in others, from obvious 
causes, they were either wholly or in part neglected. 

The recent act has placed them directly in charge of the 
Board of Education, who have appointed a special committee 
for the purpose, and sj-steraatic efforts are being made to ad- 
vance as far as possible the general condition of this class of 
schools. Better houses are in process of erection. Every op- 
portunity and convenience is afforded that is given any other 
class of schools. The teachers are of the same race as their 
pupils. They have many difficulties to contend with, chiefly 
those arising from the irregularit}'- in the attendance of their 
pupils. The pupils themselves are gathered from wide areas, 
some of them coming from long distances. Yet in conse- 
quence of the new and encouraging measures adopted by the 
Board and its committee, an improvement has begun which, 
it is hoped, will continue to mark their future history. 

COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

This institution continues to hold the same relation to the 
Common Schools of the city as under its former title and or- 
ganization. Its students must have been pupils in the Public 
Schools, the conditions of admission being as follows : 

C0NT)ITI0X^ OF ADMISSION OF STUDENTS. 
No Student shall be admitted to the College unless at the commencement 
of the next term he shall be fourteen years of age, and have attended the Com- 
mon Schools for twelve months, and sliall have passed a good examination in 
reading, spelling, writing, English grammar, geograpliy, arithmetic, elemen- 
tary book-keeping, history of the United States, and algebra, through quadrat- 
ic equations. 

PEE-EEQUISITES TO EXAMINATION FOK ADMISSION. 

No candidate shall be examined for admission unless he shall present to the 
President of the College a certificate in the form prepared by the Executive 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 147 

Committee, signed by the principal of the school or schools of which he has 
been a member, and specifying the age of the candidate, the Common Schools 
of this city which he has attended, the length of time in each, and when. If 
the number qualified for admission shall be more than can be admitted, the 
preference shall be given to those who have attended the Common Schools the 
greater period. 

REQUISITES OF ADMISSION. 

At either of the regular examinations students may be admitted to one or 
all the classes, to pursue the studies of any one or more Departments, provided 
they shall have attended the common schools the requisite period, shall be of 
the proper age, shall pass the proper examination in the requisites for admis- 
sion, and an examination satisfactory to the faculty, in the previous studies of 
the class or Departments to which they are to be admitted, 

TIME AND MANNER OF EXAMINATION. 

The examination of candidates for admission shall take place immediately 
after the general examination in July, and at such other time or times as shall 
be fixed by the Executive Committee, and shall continue at the same hours 
until concluded. No person shall be present at the examination except the in- 
structors of the College and members of the Board of Trustees, and other school 
officers. Neither the names of the candidates, nor the schools from which 
they come, shall be made known to the instructors conducting the examina- 
tions, but each candidate shall be designated during the examination by a 
number given him on a card by the President, 

RETURNS OF EXAMINATION TO BE MADE TO FACULTY, 

The instructors conducting the examination shall make full returns of the 
same on a scale of ten to the faculty, who, from such returns, shall certify the 
names of the candidates who have passed the requisite good examination, and 
also the result of the examination of each candidate, which shall in all cases 
be recorded in a book kept for that purpose. The examination papers of each 
student shall be preserved and filed. 

EXAMINATION AND LICENSING OF TEACHERS. 

For the examination and licensing of teachers, the follow- 
ing rules and regulations have been adopted by the City Su- 
perintendent. 

Candidates for examination must, in all cases, have attain- 
ed the age of seventeen years, and must have made, or be 
about to make, application for a situation actually vacant, or 
expected soon to be vacant. The fact of such vacancy must 



148 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

be attested bj a certificate from one of the trustees of the 
ward, or the commissioners of the district within which said 
vacancy exists or is expected to occur. Satisfactory evidence 
of good moral character will also be uniformly required ; 
and in the case of pupils of any of the Grammar Schools, the 
recommendation of the principal, and his or her certificate of 
character or deportment. 

The qualifications for the several grades are as follows : 

Gkade B. — [For teachers of Primary Schools.] Reading, spelling, defini- 
tions, English grammar, geogi'aphy, mental and written arithmetic, through 
percentage and proportion, penmanship, and outline drawing. Also a knowl- 
edge of the methods of teaching proper for Primary Schools, including object 
teaching in its application to number, form, color, size, etc., as well as lessons 
on animals, plants, common minerals, and the qualities and uses of familiar 
objects. 

Grade B. — [For teachers of Grammar Schools not above first assistant.] 
Reading, spelling, definitions, etymology, English grammar, with parsing and 
analysis, elementary astronomy, history of the United States, geography, mental 
and written arithmetic, through evolution, penmanship, algebra, through simple 
equations, and geometry, through the first book of Davis's Legendre, or an 
equivalent. 

Grade A. — [For Females.] Same as above, with higher astronomy, arith- 
metic complete, algebra, through equations; second, third, and fourth books 
of geometry, with the applications to problems and mensuration ; ancient and 
modern history, natural philosophy, physiology, and rhetoric. 

[For INIales.] Geometry, through spherical ; trigonometry ; and outlines of 
chemistry, in addition to the preceding. 

A certificate for a limited period only will be conferred, 
except to such candidates as have shown by actual experi- 
ence in the schools of this city or elsewhere ability to impart 
instruction, and success in discipline. 

The examinations are held in the presence of the inspect- 
ors designated by the Board of Education on Friday of each 
week, commencing at nine o'clock A.M. Candidates are re- 
quested to present their credentials previous to the day of ex- 
amination. No candidate after rejection will be re-examined 
until after the expiration of three months. 

In the case of limited certificates, they are usually given 
for six months or a year ; and if, at the end of that period, 
the holder has given satisfactory, evidence of a proper ability 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 149 

to teach and to govern, a full certificate in the usual form is 
granted. If no such ability has been manifested, the license 
expires by limitation, and is not renewed. 



APPOINTMENT AND REMOVAL OF TEACHERS. 

It is provided by law that 

The schools in the several wards shall be classified as Grammar, Primary, 
and Evening schools, and teachers for the said schools shall be appointed as 
follows : Principals and vice-principals by the Board of Education, upon the 
written nomination of a majority of the trustees of the ward, stating that the 
nomination was agreed to at a meeting of the Board of Trustees at wliich a 
majority of the whole number in office were present. Other teachers shall be 
appointed by a majority of the trustees for the ward at a meating of the Board 
of Trustees. Any teacher may be removed by the Board of Education upon 
the recommendation of the City Superintendent, or of a majority of the trustees 
for the ward, or a majority of the inspectors for the district. The Board of 
Trustees for the ward, by a vote of a majority of the wliole number of trustees 
in office, may also rembve teachers employed therein other than principals and 
vice-principals, provided the removal is approved in writing by a majority of 
the inspectors of the district, and provided further, that any teacher so re- 
moved shall have a right to appeal to the Board of Education, under such 
rules as it may prescribe ; and the said Board shall have power, after liearing 
the answers of the trustees, to reinstate the teacher. 

These regulations are the more important in that it has 
been the custom in the city of New York from the founda- 
tion of the Free School Society not to make annual appoint- 
ments of teachers, as is believed to be the general practice 
elsewhere. Once appointed, no new appointment is required 
for the same position, and the teacher is secure, so long as he 
or she faithfully performs the duties assigned. 

The Board by regulation also provides 

That no teacher shall be appointed principal or vice-principal of a Gram- 
mar School except of Grade A, and no assistant teacher shall be employed 
therein without a certificate equal to Grade B. No teacher shall be appoint- 
ed principal or vice-principal of a Primary School without a certificate equal 
to Grade B. 

It has also been found necessary to provide 

That the salary of any principal or vice-principal whom this Board, after 
the application of any Board of Trustees, shall have refused to remove from 



150 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

his or lier position, and the salary of any teacher, whose appeal to this Board 
from the action of a Board of Trustees in removing him or her from the posi- 
tion he or she held, shall have been sustained ; and the salary of any teacher 
whose removal, by request of a Board of Trustees, has not been approved by 
the inspectors of a school district, or a majority of them, shall not be reduced 
bv any Board of Trustees below the amount he or she received at the time 
said Board took action to effect the removal of such principal, vice-pi'incipal, 
or teacher, without first obtaining the approval of this Board. 

It will thus be seen that every care is taken in the licens- 
ing of teachers, that, when necessary, they may be promptly 
removed, and that competent and worthy teachers are pro- 
tected from all hasty, injudicious, unjust, and oppressive meas- 
ures, and made to feel that faithful performance of duty will 
furnish them that guaranty which justice demands. 

No principal of any school is obliged to teach a particular 
class. His duties are chiefly those of general supervision and 
superintendence. By frequent visits to the several class- 
rooms, as well as by the general rules he may adopt, he may 
so influence the whole department as to make it throughout 
bear testimony to his faithfulness and skill. This regulation 
is believed to be peculiar to the schools of the city, and is a 
large element in their success. 



SALARIES OF TEACHERS. 

The following are the by-laws relating to the salaries of 
teachers. 

1 Male Department. 

The salaries paid to male principals of schools shall be based upon the 
average attendance of their respective Departments, for the year ending on 
the preceding 31st day of December, and shall be as follows, viz : For each 
school having not more than one hundred and fifty pupils average attendance, 
two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. For each school having more 
than one hundred and fifty, and not more than three hundred average at- 
tendance, two thousand five hundred dollars. For each school having more 
than three hundred and not more than five hundred average attendance, two 
thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. For each school having more than 
five hundred average attendance, three thousand dollars. 

To vice-principals of schools having more than one himdrcd and fifty aver- 
age attendance, two thousand dollars. To male assistants, where but one is 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 151 

employed in a school having more than one hundred and fifty average attend- 
ance, fourteen hundred and fifty dollars ; when more than one is employed, an 
average not exceeding fourteen hundred dollars. 

To female assistants, an average not exceeding seven hundred and twenty- 
five dollars. 

2. Female Departments. 

To principals, of each school having one hundred pupils or less in average 
attendance, twelve hundred dollars. For each school having more than one 
hundred, and not more than one hundred and fifty pupils in average attend- 
ance, thirteen<ihundred dollars. For each school having more than one hun- 
dred and fifty, and not more than three hundred average attendance, fifteen 
hundred dollars. For each school having more than three hundred, and not 
more than five hundred average attendance, sixteen hundred dollars. For 
each school having more than five hundred average attendance, seventeen hun- 
dred dollars. 

To vice-principals of schools having more than one hundred and fifty aver- 
age attendance, eleven hundred dollars. To assistants, an average not ex- 
ceeding six hundred and fifty dollars. 

3. Primary Departments and Schools. 

To principals for each school having two hundred pupils or less in average 
attendance, one thousand dollars. For each school having more than two 
hundred, and not more than four hundred pupils average attendance, eleven 
hundred dollars. For each school having more than four hundred, and not 
more than six hundred average attendance, thirteen hundred dollars. For 
each school having more than six hundred average atteadance, fifteen hundred 
dollars. 

To vice-principals of schools having more than three hundi-ed, and not more 
than ten hundred pupils average attendance, nine hundred dollars. To vice- 
principals of schools having more than ten hundred pupils average attendance, 
one thousand dollars. 

To assistants, an average not exceeding five hundred dollars. The mini- 
mum salary paid to any teacher employed in the schools under the control of 
this Board shall be four hundred dollars. The section shall not apply to teach- 
ers who have not a full or permanent certificate. 

CLERK'S AND SUPERINTENDENT'S DEPARTIHENTS. 
The duties of these officers, and especially those of the 
Superintendent, are fully stated in the law, of which a copy 
is found in this report. Yet the practical working of their 
powers and duties is so clearly and succinctly set forth in a 
masterly report which has recently been published in a neigh- 
boring city, that liberty is taken to transcribe some of its state- 
ments, as apposite to this occasion. 



152 HISTOKY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION. 

" Under the administration of tbc sj'stem as carried out by 
the Board of Education, a degree of order, precision, and en- 
ergy of action has been attained, wliicb has carried, and, if 
persevered in, must continue to carry forward the great worlc 
of popular education in the city of New York wath a steady 
and strong progress, both in the broadness of its diffusion and 
the excellence of its character. In the administration of the 
system, while it is important that all its officers, should be 
competent and foithful, yet its practical efficiency is largely 
dependent upon the capacity and fidelity of two of these offi- 
cers : First, the Clerk of the Board of Education, who has un- 
der him a deputy clerk, and as many assistant clerks as the 
Board may direct, all of whom are under the direction of the 
clerk. 'We can not undertake to enumerate all his powers 
and duties, but we can only say generally that his office is the 
centre around which the whole work revolves, the point from 
which essentially every thing emanates, and to which it re- 
turns ; and the returns are required to be made so full and 
precise, and the record of them kept so perfect and so ar- 
ranged, that it is poss-iblc to obtain at the clerk's office at any 
time all the essential fiicts in relation to every school, viz., 
the names, number, salaries, grades of its teachers, the num- 
ber of its pupils, the average attendance, and the amount of 
supplies of all kinds, books, stationery, fuel, etc., with the cost 
of the same ; also the cost of repairs, cleaning, rents, gas, 
printing, advertising, etc., and this for each District School, 
from the Free Academy down to the smallest Ward School. 
Second, the Superintendent of Public Schools and his assist- 
ants, who visit and examine the schools, as to their condition 
and progress, and the fidelity and efficiency of the teachers. 
xVs the clerk's office is the centre of the material administra- 
tion of the New York system, so the superintendent's office 
is the centre of its intellectual and moral efficiency, of the 
character of the schools as instrumentalities of education, and 
of the character of the teachers as competent and efficient in- 
structors, exemplars, and guides to the young. The trustees 
of the ward have the power to appoint the teachers of all 



PRESENT CONDITION OF SCHOOLS. 153 

grades in the schools of the ward, but the superintendent vir- 
tually determines from among whom the appointments shall 
be made, and the tenure of office depends mainly upon him, 
because no person can be appointed as teacher by the trustees 
unless holding a license or certificate, signed by the superin- 
tendent, stating the grade of teacher for which the holder is 
qualified ; and if subsequently experience, reached through 
the visile and examinations of the superintendent or his assist- 
ants, shows that the holder is not qualified, wants tact, ener- 
gy, efficiency, or is in any way incompetent or unfit for the 
work, the license or certificate is revoked, and the teacher re- 
moved. This plan of intrusting the visitations and examina- 
tions of the schools, tlie power to judge of the practical effi- 
ciency, competency, and fidelity of the teachers, etc., mainly 
and specially to experts, to persons appointed to the work be- 
cause their culture, mental habits, and experience specially fit 
them for it, must tend to make the schools progressive, to se- 
cure the services of the best teachers and the adoption of the 
best methods. 

" Of course there are other ofl&cers, such as the superinten- 
dent of school buildings, the engineer, the inspector of fuel, 
and the various sub-committees of the Board of Education, 
whose fidelity in the special work assigned them contributes 
largely to the successful working of the whole organization. 
Yet it seems to be mainly through these two channels — the 
Clerk of the Board of Education, with his assistants, and the 
Superintendent of Public Schools, with his assistants, that the 
ISTew York system has reached its thorough and exact external^ 
its spirited and progressive internal administration." 



154 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



XVII. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. » 

School-houses of the Public School Society. — Successive and Recent Improve- 
ments. — Specimens of New Buildings. — Illustrations. — The general Pol- 
icy of the Board as to School-houses. 

In lookin"' over tlie history of the Common Schools of the 
city of New York, some consideration must necessarily be 
given to an examination of the nature of the buildings erect- 
ed for the use of these schools, both on account of the extent 
of the provision that has been made in the way of sites and 
buildings, and because the schools themselves must be helped 
or hindered — in all that pertains to their efficient usefulness — 
by the character and condition of the accommodations pro- 
vided for them. While very much or most of the success of 
a school depends on the ability of the instructors engaged in 
its manao'ement, it is yet a matter of no little importance that 
the school-house and its appointments should be of the best 
character that it is possible, in the circumstances of the case, 
to give. There is a sort of inspiration almost about a well- 
arranged and properly-appointed building that affects both 
teachers and pupils, makes the work of the school-room seem 
easier, and gives that cheerful and hopeful spirit by which 
success is attained. 

The construction and arrangement of school-houses in this 
city have Undergone numerous changes within the last half- 
century, all of which have been made with a view of obtain- 
ing the best type — for the time — of a city school-house. And 
it is interesting to note through these gradual changes that 
the progress made has been almost uniformly on the same 
line, as though the various improvements that have been in- 
troduced from time to time were but an amplification and 




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■■Ij 

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iiir 



mil 
aw 



an 




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I 



A PRIMARY SCHOOL. 

FiGUEK 1. (Front View.) 



Elevation of a Primary School, built on a lot of ground 25 by 100 feet. 
The first story is used as a plav-ground, which is more fully explained in Fig. 
2. The main building is 2!> feet front, by G2.V feet (leej) ; the stair building is 
27 feet by 11 feet 8 inches. The main building is jilaced G or 8 feet from the 
line of the sti-eet, according to the depth of the lot. The walls above the 
ground are built entirely of brick. The roof is of tin, and the gutters of cop- 
per. The lower doors and windows have iron bars inserted for safety and to 
admit a free circulation of air in summer, but are closed with sashes in the win- 
ter. 

The sashes in all the Primary Schools are hung the same as those in the 
Public Schools, so as to be moved up and down at pleasure. The first story, 
or play-ground, is 71 feet high in the clear ; the second and third stories, each 
1 2 feet high in the clear. 

Figures 1 and 2 exiiibit the plans and elevation of a Model Primary School 
House (for two departments) adopted by the Public School Society. That So- 
ciety, after 1844, erected all their Primary Schools after this plan. 




FIO. 



-GROUND PLAN OF FIRST STORY, OR PLAT-GROUND, YARDS, PRIVIES, 
STAIR BUILDING, ETC. 



N — Side-walk, bine-stone flagging. 

J — Court-yards, blue-stone flag- 
ging ; separated fr(nn tbe side- walk by 
iron railing. 

CC — Stairways; tbe side on wbich 
Fig. 2 is marked leading to the Boys' 
Department, or third story. 



F L — Places for pine (kindling) 
wood, nnder the stairs. 

E — Sand-box for Vjoth departments. 

h h — Piles of wood, about 4i fr. liigh. 

I I — Linos on which the scholars 
are marshalled previous to entering 
school. 



'^^^-- 



SCHOOL-HOUSES. 155 

natural outgrowth of the original idea brought about by the 
experience gained in the workings of the system. 

The schoc^ buildings erected by the late Public School 
Society were all built upon the same general plan, and that 
plan — owing no doubt to the limited funds of the Society — 
was a very economical one. Their " Model Primary School- 
house " was built upon a single lot, covering the whole width 
— twenty-five feet — to a depth of sixty-two feet, and at that 
point was joined by a rear stairway wing some eleven feet 
wide by twentj^-eight feet long. By this reduction in the 
width, some rear light was secured ; but this was of service 
only on the brightest days, and when the fresh air and sun- 
shine were not shut out by rear buildings on adjoining lots. 

Plans of one of these buildings are herewith presented, 
which will show very clearly the arrangement of the several 
floors. 

It will be seen that compactness -and severe plainness are 
the main features of this plan. A building like the above 
accommodated about three hundred and fifty scholars. The 
arrangement of seats was very inconvenient, yet one of these 
buildings was considered, thirty years ago, as a great improve- 
ment on any thing that had preceded it. 

The buildings for "Public Schools," as they were called, 
corresponded to the present Grammar School-houses, and 
contained rooms for three departments, which were desig- 
nated as " Boys','' " Girls'," and " Primary." The last of these 
was located in the basement, the floor of which was generally 
about five feet below the sidewalk line, and the ceiling per- 
haps the same distance above it. The " Girls' " school was on 
the main floor, and the " Boys' " on the upper, or second floor. 
The Primary consisted of one large room, comprising the 
whole space enclosed within the walls, which was divided in 
the middle at times by sliding doors so as to separate the 
smaller children — the abecedarians — from those who were 
more advanced in their studies. For the accommodation of 
these little ones, a gallery of rising steps was provided at one 
end of the room ; for the larger scholars, there were two rows 



156 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

of seats next the walls on the sides and opposite end of tbe 
room, and the teacher's desk being placed midway between 
the two sections, near the line of the slidinor doors, neces- 
sitated " giving the cold shoulder " to one division when facing 
the other. By the arrangement of seats referred to, a large 
space was left in the central portion of the room for marshal- 
ins the scholars, and for tlie numerous drafts of the monito- 
rial system. 

The Boys' and Girls' Departments were usually similar in 
their plan, and were much better arranged for seating pur- 
poses than the Primary ; yet even in these schools the facil- 
ities for instruction were very limited. Usually but two class- 
rooms were provided, and these would each seat about fifty 
pupils, the remainder of necessity received were taught in 
the large room, or alternated in the use of the two class- 
rooms. A visitors' entrance at the front led to two, and 
sometimes to all of the- Departments, and pupils' entrances 
for each department were located at the rear of the building. 
This was in many cases a long, straight, narrow stairway, and 
external to the building. 

The capacity of these buildings was for about ten or eleven 
hundred pupils. The accompanying diagrams, representing 
" Public School No. 17 " (now Grammar School No. 16), on 
West Thirteenth Street, in the Ninth Ward, will give a gen- 
eral idea of the arrangements of the floors of such a building 
as has been described ; but this being the last but one of the 
buildings erected by the late Public School Society, has em- 
braced in it many improvements that were not to be found 
in the earlier buildings, not the least important of which is 
the abandonment of the under-ground basement, the provid- 
ino-of one or two more class-rooms, and the adoption of stair- 
cases having frequent landings. Such buildings, being of 
small size, were not as economical as they might at flrst seem. 
They required a large number of buildings for a moderate 
number of pupils; and were the same sort of economical 
views to prevail now, and school-houses to be built upon the 
plans just considered, it would require for the accommodation 




GRAMMAR SCHOOL HOUSE NO, 16. 

(Formerly Public School No. 17.) 
THIRTEENTH STREET, NEAR THE SEVENTH AVENUE. 




FIG. 1. — GKOUND PLAN OF PlilMAKY DEl'AKTMENT, YAIiDS, WOOD-UOUSES, ETC. 



A — Primary School-room, 39 by 38 
feet. 

B— Infant School-room, 39 by 30 ft. 

C — Room in stair building for 
brooms, brushes, pails, etc. 

J— Bovs' wardrobe, 1 6^ by 8 ft. 

K— Girls' wardrobe, 12+ by 8 ft. 

M— Gallery, 32 by 11 feet ; seats for 
200 children. 

NN — Desks, each IG.V feet long — 
each 12 or 13 scholars. 

O — Teachers' table. 

L — Front door, or main entrance. 

The stations for the classes, wlien 
reading:, is in the centre passage, front- 
ing the desks. All doors open outward. 

R R — Gates, or scholar's entrance. 

U U — Scholars' entrance to Pri- 
mary Department. 

S — Scholars' entrance. Boys' De- 
partment. 

T — Scholars' entrance, Girls' De- 
partment. 



Q— Sliding-doors, 28 by 9i feet. 

P P— Stoves. 

Z Z — Flues, or chimneys. 

1 1 — Play-ground, or yard, 102 by 
26 feet; paved with brick. 

D D— Wood-houses, 83 by 2^ feet, 
and 6 feet high ; the front of which is 
made of hemlock strips, 4 l)y 2 inches, 
set perpendicularly 2 inches apart, to 
allow a free circulation of air. 

E E — Roof of wood-iiouses, pro- 
jecting 3^ feet beyond tlie front of the 
houses ; forming a sliclter for the 
scholars in stormy weather. 

H II — Glitters of blue stone, to con- 
duct the waste water from tlie wood- 
houses and yards to the street. 

F F— Privies, 12 by 8 feet. 

G G — Boxes for sand, 3 by 21 feet. 

W — Front walk, blue-stone flagging. 

X — Court-yard, 8| feet wide. 

y Y — Stone foundation blocks, to 
which iron railing in front is secured. 




FIG. 2. — GROUND PLAN OF THE BOTS' DEPARTMENT, OR THIRD STORY ; AND 
WILL ANSWER ALSO FOR THE SECOND STORY, OR GIRLS' DEPARTMENT, 
EXCEPT SOME SLIGHT DIFFERENCES IN THE STAIRS. 



A — School-room. 

B B — Recitation-rooms. 

C — Recitation-rooms. 

D — Receiving-room, and scholars' 
entrance ; this room is furnished with 
a suflScient number of cloak and hat 
hooks, to accommodate all the schol- 
ars in each department. 

I — Front entrance and stairway. 

K — Bonk closet. 

L L L L — Stoves. 

G— Platform. 



H— Teachers' desk, with a shelf at 
each end for globes. 

E E— Scholars' desks ; each 12 feet 
8 inches long — 19 inches for each schol- 
ar. 

Y F — A seat at the end of the desk, 
with a movable shelf for the purpose 
of a desk. • 

The front of the teachers' desk to- 
ward the scholars is formed by a black- 
board 3 feet wide, and extending the 
whole length of the desk. 



. scnooL-iiousES. 157 

of the present number of children attending the public schools 
of this city, nearly two hundred buildings instead of the eight}' 
or ninety that are now used for the purpose, and the cost of 
managing the school system would be greatly increased. 

It is unnecessary at this late day to enter into any argu- 
ment in favor of large buildings as being more economical — 
either in construction, repairs, or convenience, than an equiv- 
alent number of small ones for school purposes. The fact is 
too long and too well established to require any thing to be 
said to substantiate it. 

It has already been stated that the "Model Primary 
School " on a single lot, as formerly erected, gave accommo- 
dations for some three hundred and fifty pupils. The mod- 
ern Primary School on two or three lots gives much better 
accommodation for three or five times that number. It will be 
noted that the modern plans, both Grammar and Primary, 
furnish a large number of class-rooms ; by which the schools 
can be thoroughly classified, and the ends of teaching be bet- 
ter subserved. 

When, in 1853, the Public School Society was united with 
the Board of Education, that society transferred to tte Board 
some thirty-four buildings which were owned and had been 
erected by them. Five of these have since been abandoned, 
being no longer wanted for school purposes, and, with the 
sites on which they stood, surrendered to the city authorities. 
All of the others have been extensively altered and improved, 
in obedience to modern requirements, and to furnish the ad- 
ditional accommodations that have been so urgently demand- 
ed. Nine of them have been entirely rebuilt, some even after 
having previously undergone enlargement. 

In addition to such alteration and rebuilding of the Pul- 
lic School edifices, the Board of Education has, since the year 
1853, enlarged or rebuilt thirty-two of the Ward School- 
houses (Grammar and Primary), and has erected twenty-nine 
new buildings. 

There are now in this city twenty-nine Primary School- 
houses and fifty-five Grammar School-houses, in addition to 



158 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOK 

the hired premises that are used by the schools under the 
control of the Board of Education ; nine of the former and 
five of the latter are all that are left of the thirty-four build- 
ings that were erected by the late Public School Society. 
Of the remaining Primaries, four are buildings that were pur- 
chased with the sites on which they stand, and have been al- 
tered and adapted to school purposes. The others have been 
erected by the Board for the special purpose for which they 
are used, and, in accordance with the best known principles 
of construction and arrangement, fitted with all conveniences 
for teachers and pupils, and supplied with the best styles 
of furniture, and the most approved heating and ventilating 
apparatus. The play-grounds are in all cases ample, and so 
arranged that the pupils at recess can enjoy their sports in 
the open air or under cover, as they may prefer, or circum- 
stances may admit. 

The school sites belonging to the Board comprise over 
three hundred lots, and, if placed together in blocks with the 
streets usually allowed, would include upward of twenty acres 
of ground ; and the floors of the school buildings placed in 
the samfe manner, would comprise some sixty acres more— 
quite a little farm, upon which many laborers are busily en- 
gaged sowing the seed, from whicb abundant harvests of un- 
told value are annually gathered to enrich the nation. 

From the general statement preceding it will be seen that 
great improvements have been made within a few years past 
in the school buildings of this city ; formerly the Primary 
Departments were located in basements that were seldom 
light and cheerful, and always subject to annoyances of vari- 
ous kinds — now all these schools are well provided for 
above ground, and free from disturbance ; then a couple of 
class-rooms for an upper department were considered suffi- 
cient ; now there are few buildings that have less than eight 
of these rooms for any department including the Primary. 
A building that accommodated one thousand pupils was con- 
sidered a wonder. Modern buildings on the same sites ac- 
commodate in a better manner double that number. Once 



SCHOOL-HOUSES. 159 

the scliool-houses of the city were remarkable for their ex- 
treme plainness, but now a wiser economy provides for the 
judicious adornment of these edifices, that they may present 
attractions to those for whose benefit they were erected. 

The school-houses of to-day are solidly built, convenient- 
ly arranged, well supplied with apparatus, and yet probably 
cost less than any other public buildings of the same class 
constructed at the same time and under similar circumstances. 
Improvements are 'constantly sought after each new building 
is better in some point than its immediate predecessor. As 
an indication of the latest stages of advancement in this re- 
spect, the following views and diagrams, with descriptions, are 
given, of several buildings that have recently been com- 
menced, or about being put under contract. 



GRAIIMAR SCHOOL-HOUSE NO. 56. 

On West Eighteenth Street, between Eighth and Ninth 
avenues, a new building is in course of erection which is to 
be occupied by Grammar School No. 56. This is a school 
for females only, and will consist of two Departments — one 
Grammar and one Primary — each of which will have as- 
signed to it several more class-rooms than could be allowed 
in a building arranged (as most of the Grammar School- 
houses are) for three departments. There are many advan- 
tages in this arrangement, the most prominent of which is the 
additional room that can be assigned to the scholars of the 
Primary grades, these forming about two-thirds of the 
whole number of pupils. Their proper accommodation is an 
important matter. Some idea may be formed of the charac- 
ter of the structure upon an examitiation of the exterior 
vie.w, and the plans of the internal arrangement that are 
herewith presented. The whole front of the building, one 
hundred feet in length, and having a depth of about thirty 
feet, is occupied on each floor by the entrance-hall and stair- 
ways, with two large class-rooms on either hand ; behind the 
central portion of this front is the main body of the building 



IGO HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

— about fifty feet in widtb, and running back nearly sixty 
feet — -wliicli contains on the second floor the reception and 
gallery rooms of the Primary Department ; the second floor is 
given entirely to class-rooms, and the whole of the upper floor 
of this portion of the building is occupied by the grammar 
reception-room ; two additional class-rooms on each floor are 
contained in the wings on each side at the rear. On each of 
these floors two large wardrobes are provided for the nse of 
the teachers of the school, in addition to those for the use of 
the pupils. Four stone stairways for the pupils' use connect 
with each of the floors from the ground to the upper depart- 
ment. On the ground floor are the enclosed play-rooms, 
apartments for the janitor, a meeting-room for the school 
trustees, etc. This building will accommodate from fifteen 
hundred to two thousand scholars. 

The exterior of this school-house is very effective in its 
design ; and while it can not well be mistaken for any thing 
else than a school-house, it is yet a pleasant departure from 
the set order of things that has hitherto marked this class of 
public buildings. The " squat" appearance that generally ac- 
companies a building of the same breadth of front as this, is 
here avoided by the recessions in the front, which break the 
horizontal lines, and give instead so many vertical sections. 
And the bold bringing out of the central tower, making the 
main entrance a prominent feature, carries the eye upward 
with pleasant relief While the building is one of the most 
solid and substantial character, there is yet no appearance of 
undue heaviness. The ornamentation is simple, and consists 
rather in the judicious use of material than in having it highly 
wrought. The windows and other openings exhibit in a 
variety of forms the sfrength and beauty of the arch line, yet 
variety is not introduced at the expense of the unity of the de- 
sign. The first story of the front of the building is of brown 
stone, channeled with vermiculated blocks and voussoirs 
at tlic openings ; the other stories are faced with Philadelphia 
pressed brick, and trimmed with polished brown stone. 

Th6 exterior sections of the front are ornamented with 






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SIXTEENTH WARD SCHOOL NO. 56. 

EIGHTEENTH STKEET. (FIRST STOliY.) 




SIXTEENTH WARD SCHOOL NO. 56. 

EIGHTEENTH STREET. (SECOND STORY.) 




SIXTEENTH WARD GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO, 66. 

EIGHTEENTH STKEET. (THIRD STOBr.) 




SIXTEENTH WARD GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 56. 

EIOUTEENTn STREET. (FOURTH STORY.) 



SCHOOL-HOUSES. 161 

paneled pilasters of brick, and tbc corners of the tower arc 
decorated with groins of brown stone. A heavily moulded 
cornice with coupled brackets and scroll modillions surmounts 
the building, above which is a curved roof slated in two col- 
ors and crowned by a handsome balustrade. The tower rises 
some feet above the main cornice, and has a light and airy 
lookout above the roof. 

Built of the best materials, and with the most skilled labor, 
this school-house will be a source of pride, not only to those 
who are immediately engaged or interested in its construc- 
tion, but also to every citizen who desires that the schools of 
New York should maintain the supremacy they have so long 
and so justly held. 

PRIMARY SCIIOOL-IIOUSE NO. 10. 

The rapid growth of the city constantly creates new de- 
mands for school accommodation, and the class of inhabitants 
in a given locality frequently determines the grade of ac- 
commodation required in that neighborhood. In one case 
Grammar pupils may constitute the majority requiring these 
facilities, wliile in another the Primary applicants may large- 
ly outnumber the Grammar. In the Twenty-first Ward 
there are two Grammar School buildings, the Primary De- 
partments of which are always full to overflowing, their com- 
bined average attendance being upward of twenty-five hun- 
dred ; yet so great has been the number seeking admission 
where not another could be taken, that it became necessary 
to establish in that section of the city a new Primary School. 
Lots were accordingly purchased on East Thirty-second 
Street midway between the two schools already established, 
and a building — of which the accompanying diagrams are a 
correct representation — is about to be erected thereon, to be 
known as Primary School-house No. 16. 

In its general features the plan ot this building does not 
differ materially from the Grammar School plan just consider- 
ed; although the frontage of the lots is some twenty feet less, 

L 



l&l UlSTOKV OV VVmAC KIH" CATION. 

the aiTJiugoinont of the rooms and stainvays is vorv inucli 
the same; the purpose of the building, however, is dilVerent. 
The iVont of the fii"st floor contains the janitor's apartments, 
very eonveniently arranged; baok of this are the play- 
grounds, both open and covered, for the pupils. A visitors' 
entrance at the centre of the front leads to all the Depart- 
ments, ajul four fire-proof stairways, conveniently located, 
connect the play -grounds with the several floors above. The 
second and third lloors are similar in arrangement, each hav- 
ing a large assembling-room, with gallery-rooms for the small- 
est scholai-s in the rear of this. There are two class-rooms 
at the sides of the gallery -rooms, and four more in front of 
ihe main room. In the stairway wings are found the rooms 
with wardrobes, etc., for the teachers' use. The accommo- 
dation afforded by this building will be for between twelve 
to fifteen hundred pupils, which will materially relieve the 
pressing wants of the neighborhood in which it is situated. 

The exterior view shows again what may be done toward 
securing a really handsome building by a judicious use of 
simple material, without incurring the expense involved in 
elaborate ornamentation. The characteristics of this front are 
boldness and simplicity : the material nsed is principally 
Philadelphia pressed brick ; the rustic- work of the fii-st story, 
and the keys and spring-blocks of the %Yindows, with the sills 
and sill coni"ses, being of polished brown stone. The impos- 
ing entrance, with its tower, the wing projections, and the 
arches of the windows and dooi"s,give an air of solidity to the 
structuiv that is at once pleasing to the eye and Sixtisfactory 
to the sense. Above the cornice — which is a line feature in 
itself — the ivof of the front section is carried up in a convex 
Mansaixi curve, handsomelv slated, and linished with a bal- 
usti-ade. The other portions of the building are covered with 
a tin i-oof. 

This building possesses many improvements over any pre- 
viously erected, and may be fairly considered a model Pri- 
mary School-house. 




TWENTY-FIRST WARD PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 16. 

THIRTY-SECOND STREET. (FIRST STORY.) 




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GALLERY 

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ROOMS 



SLIDING CXXJRS 



RECEPTION ROOM 

41-47 



CLKSS ROOM 




TWENTY-FIRST WARD PRIMARY SCHOOL NO. 16. 
TJilKTy-SECOND 8TKEET. (SECOND AND TUIBD STOKIES.) 



SCHOOL-HOUSES. 163 



COLORED SCHOOL-HOUSE NO. 3. 

For more than half a century the colored children of this 
city have been provided with the means of education in the 
same manner as the children of white parentage. The school 
buildings, the instructors, the supplies of books and apparatus 
have been of identically the same character in either case, 
The colored people are given to colonizing, and, in recogni- 
tion of this fact, the schools for their use have been located 
in the immediate neighborhood, if not directly in the midst, 
of the communities thus formed. 

The late Public School Society erected two buildings for 
Colored Schools, which at tLe time they were built were as 
good as any others in the city. One of these, No. 2, on Lau- 
rens Street, is still standing, and in good order, having recent- 
ly been thoroughly overhauled and remodeled ; and the other, 
No. 1, after having been used for many years, was demolish- 
ed, and a new building erected in the year 1859, which was 
generally considered to be the finest colored school-house in 
the United States. 

By the changes of population already alluded to, quite a 
large number of the colored people within a few years past 
have left the lower for the upper wards of the city, and for 
their benefit Colored School No. 6 — now known, however, 
as No. 3 — was established. Success attended this school ; 
and the Board of Education, with a desire to furnish it as 
good accommodations as for any other, has recently pur- 
chased a fine school site on the northerly side of West 
Forty-first Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, 
on which to erect a building for its use. The view, and 
plans accompanying, represent new Colored School-house 
No. 3. 

The several floors of this building are very much alike. 
A commodious assembling — or reception-room — and five 
class rooms being furnished on each floor. The three class- 
rooms at the rear can be thrown into one large open room — 



UU HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

in conuectioii witli the assembly — bj the use of the shding 
doors ; the usual visitors' entrance and pupils' stairways are 
shown on the plans. The ceilings are high, and the windows 
of good size, to secure proper light and ventilation. The 
building is calculated for three departments, if it shall be 
found necessary to organize them, and has accommodations 
for about one thousand children. The yards are very 
roomy, and have broad sheds at the sides for protection in^ 
stormy weather. Apartments for the janitor are provided 
in the basement, and in the story formed in the Mansard 
roof over the front portion of the building. 

The front of this school-house presents a very neat and 
tasteful appearance that must excite admiration, and will be a 
credit to the neighborhood in which it is situated. Built of 
the same materials as the other buildings that have already 
been described, it is yet unlike them, and has a character all 
its own. 

The foregoing examples are given simply to show what 
is being done by the Board to meet the demands of the ever- 
swelling throng of eager applicants who are knocking at the por- 
tals of already filled school-houses, and presenting their claims 
to a share in the benefits conferred by our system of free educa- 
tion. As readily and as fully as the means of the Board will 
permit, these claims are allowed, but they can not be entirely 
satisfied. The time is not yet, and probably will not soon 
be, when the demand for school accommodation shall cease ; 
for liberal as is the fund contributed by our citizens for the 
maintenance of our Public Schools, yet it can not, in the nat- 
ural course of things, equal the demands that will be made 
upon it by our rapidly-increasing population. These citizen 
tax-payers are urging the erection of additional school-houses, 
and it would undoubtedly be a matter of no little difiiculty 
to obtain their consent to the erection of a poorer class of 
buildings than those hitherto erected ; and each succeeding 
vear will see arise in various sections of our city these stately 
edifices to be devoted to this good cause. They are emphat- 
ically the schools of the people, are extending their influence 



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FOBTT-FIRST STREET. (FIRST STOBT.) 




COLORED SCHOOL NO. 3. 

FORTT-FIUST STKEET. (SECOND AND TUIKD STOKIES.) 



SCHOOL-HOUSES. 165 

for good day by day, and tlie attractions they present are 
wholesome in their effects. 

The buildings required will be erected as fast as circum- 
stances permit. All parts of the city will receive favorable con- 
sideration whenever additional accommodations are necessary. 
In neighborhoods that have school-houses of the old methods 
of construction, they will be remodeled to meet this want ; but 
in case this iS not practicable, they will be removed, and new 
houses built. In building or altering, the Board has taken 
every precaution to guard against an extravagant use of the 
public funds under its control. All the work in this line is 
done by contracts based upon competitive estimates obtained 
through public advertisement, and made by numbers of the 
best mechanics in the city. The material used is always the 
best of its kind, and the labor is required to be of the first 
class. All the work undergoes a rigid superintendence, in 
order that the various provisions of these contracts may be 
fully carried out. 



166 HISTORY OF I'UBLIC EDUCATION. 



XVIII. 
LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 



An Act to amend, consolidate, and reduce to one Act, the various 
Acts relative to the Common Schools of the City of New York. 

Passed July 3, 1851. 

As amended hij the Acts severally entitled, ^^An Act relative to 
Common Schools in the City of New Yorhy^ 

Passed June 4, 1853. 

March 31, 1854. 

April 15, 1854. 

Tlie People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and 
Assembly, do ena/^t as follows: 

OF SCHOOL OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION. 

§ 1. There shall be two Commissioners, two Inspectors, 
and eight Trustees of Common Schools, in each of the wards 
of the city of New York, who shall be known as the School 
Officers of the ward. 

At every general election, there shall be elected in each 
of the said wards, one Commissioner, one Inspector, and two 
Trustees of Common Schools, who shall take office on the first 
day of January next succeeding their election, and hold the 
same for the following terms : the Commissioner and Inspect- 
or for two years each, and the Trustees for four years each. 

Every vacancy in the office of a Commissioner, Inspector, 
or Trustee of Common Schools, occurring more than twenty 
days previous to any general election, shall be filled at the 

' For most recent and important changes, see Act of 25th of Apri', ISGt, on 
page 192. 



LAWS EELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION". 167 

next general election ; and every person chosen to fill a va- 
cancy shall take office on the first clay of January next suc- 
ceeding the election, and hold the same for the residue of the 
term ; and, in every such case, the person voted for to fill a 
vacancy shall be designated in the ballot by the words, "to 
fill vacancy," written or printed immediately over his name, 
and shall also be so designated in the returns of the election ; 
and if there be more than one vacancy in the office of Trustee 
of any ward, to be filled at the same election, each person 
voted for to fill a vacancy shall be designated on the ballot 
and in the returns, by adding the number of years for which 
he is to serve to the words " to fill vacancy ;" so that the des- 
ignation will read, " to fill vacancy of — years." 

t In case in any ward the number of Trustees in office shall 
•at any time be less than eight, the Board of Education shall 
have power, upon the nomination of the School Officers of 
the ward, to appoint as many Trustees as will make, including 
the Trustees previously in office, eight Trustees for the ward ; 
but the Trustees so appointed shall cease to hold office on the 
first day of January next ensuing, and their successors shall be 
chosen at the next general election, to serve for such number 
of years, respectively, as the Board of Education may designate. 

The Board of Education shall, at least fifteen days previ- 
ous to every general election, cause to be filed in the office 
of the Clerk of the Common Council, a list of the school offi- 
ces to be filled at the next general election, stating the names 
of the officers whose terms will expire ; and also, in each 
case of an unexpired term in which a vacancy is to be filled, 
stating the number of years which the person elected to fill 
the same will be entitled to serve. 

The elections held by virtue of this Act, shall be subject 
to the same laws and regulations, in all respects, as those 
which govern the general elections in said city. The ballots 
for School Officers shall be indorsed " Common Schools," and 
deposited in a separate box to be provided therefor. 

Every School Officer shall, before entering on the duties 
of his office, and within fifteen days after the commencement 
of the term for which he is elected, or from the time of beino- 



168 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

notified of his appointment to fill a vacancy, take and sub- 
scribe before the Clerk of the Board of Education, the oath 
prescribed by the Constitution of this State. And any school 
oflice to which any person, who shall omit to take the said 
oath within the time and in the manner above prescribed, 
may have been elected or appointed in said city, shall be con- 
sidered as vacant from and after the expiration of said fifteen 
days, and the vacancy shall thereupon be filled in the manner 
in which other vacancies in school ofi&ces are filled. 

The Board of Education shall be judges of the election or 
appointment and qualification of its members. 

Every School Officer shall, at the time of his election or 
appointment, be a resident of the ward for which he is elected 
or appointed ; and the Board of School Officers of any ward 
shall have power to declare vacant the office of any Commis- 
sioner, Inspector, or Trustee elected by the people, or appoint- 
ed by the Board of Education, who shall have removed from 
the ward ; and it shall be the duty of such Board of School 
Officers to consider the subject, and determine whether or not 
the seat of the officer who shall have removed from the ward 
shall be declared vacant. 

OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION — ITS POWERS AND DUTIES. 

§ 2. The Commissioners of Common Schools shall consti- 
tute a Board of Education for the city and county of New 
York. They shall meet on the second Wednesday of Janu- 
ary, in each year, for the purpose of organization, and there- 
after for the transaction of business as often as they may de- 
termine ; they shall elect one of their number President, and 
shall appoint a Clerk, and as many Assistant Clerks, and other 
officers for the transaction of the business of the Board as ma}' 
be necessary, who shall severally hold their offices during the 
pleasure of the Board, and whose respective duties, powers, and 
compensation shall be regulated and determined by the Board, 
The Board of Education shall have power: 
1. To take and hold property, both real and personal, de- 
vised or transferred to it for the purposes of Public Education, 
in the city of New York. 



LAWS EELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 169 

2. To appoint a City Superintendent of Schools, and one or 
more Assistant Superintendents, and also a Superintendent 
of Scliool Buildings, whose respective duties, powers, salaries, 
and terms of office, except as herein otherwise provided, shall 
be regulated and determined by the Board of Education, and 
to employ, under the Superintendent of School Buildings, nec- 
essary workmen, and provide necessary materials for repair- 
ing, altering, and enlarging school or other buildings ; but this 
provision shall not be construed to compel the Trustees of any 
ward to use or employ such workmen or materials for any 
purpose whatever. 

8. On the nomination of the School Officers of any ward to 
fill vacancies in school offices which may occur in such ward 
between the general elections ; and upon the presentation of 
a majority of the School Officers of any ward, to remove any 
Inspector of Common Schools for such ward, who shall be 
proven to the satisfaction of the Board of Education to have 
willfully, or without good cause, neglected to perform any duty 
imposed upon him by this act ; and it shall be the duty of the 
said Board to remove from office any Commissioner, Inspect- 
or, or Trustee, who shall be, or become, directly or indirectly, 
interested, by way of commission or otherwise, in any con- 
tract or undertaking for the furnishing of any supplies of 
books or materials, or for the performing of any labor or work 
for any of the schools or buildings under his charge. 

4. To establish new schools, as hereinafter provided. 

5. To draw from the moneys which shall be raised for the 
purpose of Public Education, such sums as may be required 
for the purpose of defraying the necessary incidental expenses 
of, the Board, and. such further sums as may be required for 
the payment of the salaries of such clerks and other officers 
as may be appointed by virtue of the authority vested in the 
Board by this act, and of such other expenses as may be nec- 
essarily incurred by the Board in pursuance of the provisions 
of this act. 

6. To visit and examine the schools subject to the provis- 
ions of this act. 



170 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

7. To make rules of order ^nd bj-laws for the govern- 
ment of the Board, its members and committees, and general 
regulations to secure proper economy and accountability in 
the expenditure of the school moneys. 

8. To continue the existing Free Academy, and organize a 
similar institution for females ; and if any similar institution is 
organized by the Board of Education, all the provisions of this 
act relative to the Free Academy, shall apply to each and every 
one of the said institutions, now existing or hereafter establish- 
ed, as fully, completely, and distinctly as they could or would 
if it was the only institution of the kind ; to distinguish each 
existing and future institution by an appropriate title ; and to 
purchase, erect, or lease sites and buildings for each and all 
of the said institutions, provided that no additional institution 
shall be authorized or organized by the Board of Education, 
unless a majority of the whole number of members of the said 
Board shall vote in favor thereof. 

9. To use and control the premises known as the Hall of 
the Board of Education, at the corner of Grand and Elm 
Streets, to direct the purposes for which the same may be oc- 
cupied, and to make all the repairs, alterations, and additions 
in and to the same, which the Board may deem advisable, and 
to provide such additional sites and buildings as may be nec- 
essary for the purposes of this act, the title of which shall, in 
all cases, be vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonal- 
ty of the city of New-York. 

10. To dispose of such personal property used in the 
School or other buildings under the charge of the Board, as 
the Trustees or Committees having the immediate charge 
thereof shall certify is no longer required for use therein; 
and all moneys realized by the sale of any such property 
shall be paid into the City Treasury, for the same purposes 
as the moneys raised under the sixteenth section of this act. 

11. And for the purposes of this act, the said Board shall 
possess the powers and privileges of a corporation. 

§ 3. It shall be the duty of the Board of Education : 

1. On or before the fifteenth day of November, in each 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION'. 171 

year, to report to the Board of Supervisors of said city and 
county, an estimate of the amount over and above the sum 
specified in the fifteenth section of this act, which will be re- 
quired during the year for the purpose of meeting the cur- 
rent annual expenses of public instruction in said city, for 
purchasing, leasing, and procuring sites ; for erecting build- 
ings, and for furnishing, fitting up, altering, enlarging, and 
repairing the buildings and premises under their charge ; for 
the support of schools which shall have been organized since 
the last annual apportionment of the school moneys made by 
the Board, and of such further sum or sums as may be nec- 
essary for any of the purposes authorized by this act; but 
the aggregate amount so reported shall not exceed the sum 
of four dollars for each pupil who shall have actually attend- 
ed and been taught the preceding year in the schools entitled 
to participate in the apportionment. 

2. To apportion all the school moneys which shall have 
been raised for the purpose of meeting the current annual 
expenses of public instruction, to the schools entitled to par- 
ticipate therein by the provisions of this act. 

8. To file with the Chaqjberlain of said city, on or before 
the first Monday of April in each year, a copy of their ap- 
portionment, stating the amount apportioned to the Schools 
under the charge of the Board of Education, and to the 
Trustees, Managers, and Directors of the several schools enu- 
merated in this act. 

4. To continue to furnish, through the Free Academy, the 
benefit of education, gratuitously, to persons who have been 
pupils in the Common Schools of the said city and county, 
for a period of time to be regulated by the Board of Educa- 
tion, not less than one year. 

5. To supervise, manage, and govern said Free Academy, 
and make all needful rules and regulations therefor ; fix the 
number and compensation of teachers and others to be em- 
ployed therein ; prescribe the preliminary examination, and 
the terms and conditions on which pupils shall be received 
and instructed therein and discharged therefrom ; direct the 



172 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

course of studies therein, and provide in all things for the 
good government and management of the said Free Acade- 
my ; and purchase the books, apparatus, stationery, and 
other things necessary and expedient to enable the said Free 
Academy to be properly and successfully conducted, and to 
keep the said building or buildings properly repaired and 
furnished. And the Board, upon the recommendation of the 
Faculty of the Free Academy, may grant the usual degrees 
and diplomas in the Arts, to such persons as shall have com- 
pleted a full course of study in the said Free Academy. 

6. To appoint annually a standing committee of not less 
than five persons of their number, who shall, subject to the 
control, supervision, and approbation of the said Board, con- 
stitute an Executive Committee, for the care, government, 
and management of the said Free Academy, under the rules 
and regulations prescribed as aforesaid, whose duty it shall 
be to make detailed reports to the said Board of Education, 
and, among other things, to recommend the rules and regu- 
lations which they deem necessary and proper for the said 
Academy. The Board of Education may, at any regular 
meeting thereof, by a majority of all the members of the said 
Board, remove any or all the members of the said committee, 
and appoint another person or persons in place of the mem- 
ber or members of the said committee so removed. 

7. To make and transmit annually, on or before the first 
day of February in each year, to the Common Council of said 
city, and also to the Secretary of the Board of Kegents of the 
University of the State of New-York, a report signed by the 
President and Clerk of the Board of Education, and dated on 
the thirty-first day of December next preceding, which report 
shall state the names and ages of all the pupils instructed in 
such Free Academy, during the preceding year, and the time 
that each was so instructed, specifying which of them have 
completed a full course of study therein, and which have re- 
ceived degrees, medals, and other special testimonials ; a par- 
ticular statement of the studies pursued by each pupil, since 
the last preceding report, together with the books such student 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTIOK lio 

shall have studied, in whole or in part, and if in part, what por- 
tion ; an account or estimate of the library, philosophical and 
chemical apparatus, and mathematical or other scientific instru- 
ments belonging to such Academy ; the names of the instruct- 
ors employed in said Academy, and the compensation paid to 
each ; what amount of moneys the Board of Education re- 
ceived during the year for the purposes of such Academy, 
and from what sources, specifying how much from each, and 
the particular manner, and the specific purposes for which 
such moneys have been expended ; and such other informa- 
tion in relation to education in said Academy, and the meas- 
ures of the Board in the management thereof, as the said 
Common Council or the Eegents of the University of the 
State of New- York, may from time to time require. 

8. To provide evening schools for those whose ages or 
avocations are such as to prevent their attending the day 
schools established by law, in such of the ward school-houses 
or other buildings used for school purposes, and in such oth- 
er places in said city as they may from time to time deem 
expedient ; and also a Normal School or schools for teachers, 
which shall be attended by such of the teachers in Common, 
Schools as the Board of Education by general regulations 
shall direct, under penalty of forfeiture of their situations as 
teachers, by omitting to attend, which forfeiture shall be de- 
clared by the Board of Education ; and to appoint teachers 
and furnish all needful supplies for the Evening and Normal 
Schools. 

9. To furnish all necessary supplies, or make regulations 
for furnishing such supplies for the several schools under 
their care ; but when such supplies are furnished by the 
Board of Education, they shall be obtained by contract, pro- 
posals for which shall be advertised for the period of at least 
two weeks. 

10. To make and transmit, between the fifteenth day of 
January and the first day of February in each year, to the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to the Com- 
mon Council of the city of New- York, a report in writing. 



17-i HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

bearing date on the thirty-first day of December next preced- 
ing, stating the whole number of schools within their juris- 
diction, specially designating the schools for colored children ; 
the schools or societies from which reports shall have been 
made to the Board of Education, within the time limited for 
that purpose ; the length of time such schools shall have been 
kept open ; the amount of public money apportioned or ap- 
propriated to said school or society ; the number taught in 
each school ; the whole amount of money drawn from the 
city Chamberlain for the purposes of education during the 
year ending at the date of their report, distinguishing the 
amount received from the general fund of the State, and from 
all other and what sources ; the manner in which such mon- 
eys shall have been expended ; and such other information 
as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may from 
time to time require, in relation to Common School education 
in the city and county of New-York ; and the report which 
the Board of Education is hereby required to make, shall be 
held and taken to be a full compliance with every law requir- 
ing a report from the said Board, or any officer of the city 
^and county of New-York, except the City Superintendent, 
relative to the schools in the said city, or any matters connect- 
ed therewith. 

§ 4. If the Board of Education shall neglect to make such 
Annual Eeport, within the time limited, the share of school 
moneys apportioned to the city and county of New-York 
may, in the discretion of the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, be withheld until a suitable report shall have 
been rendered. 

§ 5. The Clerk of the Board of Education shall have charge 
of the rooms, books, papers, and documents of the Board, and 
shall, in addition to his duties as Secretary of the Board, per- 
form such other clerical duties as may be required by its 
members or committees. 

§ 6. All schools which have been organized under the act 
entitled "An act to extend to the city and county of New 
York, the provisions of the general act in relation to Common 



LAWS EELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 175 

Schools," passed April 11, 1842, and the acts amending the 
same, or organized or adopted under this act, shall be Com- 
mon Schools called " "Ward Schools," or " Ward Primaries," 
and each class shall be numbered consecutively, according to 
the time of their organization or adoption, and all such 
schools shall be under the supervision and government of 
the Commissioners, Inspectors, and Trustees of the ward in 
which they are located. 

POWERS AXD DUTIES OF SCHOOL OFFICERS. 

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the School Officers, or a ma- 
jority of them in any ward : 

1. To certify to the Board of Education of the city and 
county of New York, whenever, in their opinion, it is neces- 
sary to organize one or more additional schools in said ward, 
with the facts and circumstances showing such necessity, to- 
gether with the character of the school buildings required, 
and the number and class of scholars who will probably at- 
tend such schools, if organized, and to organize such schools 
as hereinafter provided. 

2. To provide under such rules and regulations as the 
Board of Education may establish, the necessary books, sta- 
tionery, and other essentials necessary to organize and con- 
duct any school in their ward. 

8. To examine, ascertain, and report to the Board of Edu- 
cation, and as frequently as may be, whether the provisions 
of this act in relation to the teaching of sectarian doctrines, 
or the use of sectarian books shall have been violated. And, 

4. To notify the Board of Education of any vacancy in the 
office of any school officer of their respective wards, and to 
make nominations as in this act provided. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONERS, 

§ 8. It shall be the duty of the Commissioners of Common 
Schools in the several wards : 

l.-To attend all the meetings of the Board of Education ; 
and if any Commissioner shall refuse or neglect to attend any 



176 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

three successive stated meetings of the Board, after having 
been personally notified to attend, and if no satisfactory cause 
of his non-attendance be shown, the Board may declare his 
office vacant. 

2. To transmit to the Board of Education all reports made 
to them by the Trustees and Inspectors of their respective 
wards. 

3. To visit and examine all the schools entitled to partici- 
pate in the apportionment, 

4. They shall be ex officio members of th.e Board of Trus- 
tees in their respective wards. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF INSPECTORS. 

§ 9. It shall be the duty of the Inspectors of Common 
Schools : . 

1. To inspect and examine each of the schools in their re- 
spective wards at least twice in each year, and oftener if nec- 
essary; and on or before the fifteenth day of October in 
each year, to make and transmit to the Board of Education, 
and to the Trustees of the ward, a report in writing, in which 
they shall set forth the condition of the several school build- 
ings in use in their ward, and whether any, and if any, what 
repairs, alterations, or modifications of those buildings seem 
to them necessary. 

2. Whether they are kept clean and in good order. 

3. In what manner they are heated and ventilated, and 
how effectual the means used are in producing the result de- 
sired. 

4. The studies pursued. 

6. The progress of the classes in their different studies. 

6. The punctuality of attendance of the scholars and 
teachers. 

7. The order, attention, and general appearance of the 
school. 

8. The length of each morning and evening session, and 
the number and length of recesses allowed. 

9. The number and qualifications of the teachers, and such 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 177 

Other facts as ia their opinion are important to insure the dis- 
cipline or extend the usefulness of the schools. 

10. In conjunction with the City Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, to license teachers for their respective wards, 
and, 

11. To examine and audit all accounts when duly certified 
by the Trustees to be correct. 

POWERS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES. 

§ 10. It shall be the duty of the Trustees for each ward, 
and they shall have the power : 

1. To have the safe keeping of all the premises and other 
property used for or belonging to the Ward Schools and the 
Ward Primaries in their respective wards. 

2. Under such general rules and regulations as the Board 
of Education may adopt, to contract with and employ teach- 
ers and janitors in the said schools, and conduct and manage 
the same, and furnish all needful supplies therefor, subject to 
the provisions of the third section of this act ; and make all 
needful repairs, alterations, and additions, in and to the school 
premises ; provided that if the cost of any such repairs, alter- 
ation, or addition, shall exceed the sum of two hundred dol- 
lars, the same shall be made by contract, pursuant to the 
twenty-fifth section of this act. 

3. To procure, as may be necessary, blank-books, in one 
of which a statement of the amounts of all moneys received 
and paid by the Trustees, or otherwise, for or on account of 
each of the schools conducted by them, and of all movable 
property belonging to each school, shall be entered at large 
and signed by such Trustees ; and, in one book, minutes of 
their meetings shall be kept; and in other books, the prin- 
cipal teacher of each school and department shall enter the 
names, ages, and residences, of the scholars attending the 
school, the name of a parent or guardian of each scholar, and 
the days on which the scholars shall have respectively attend- 
ed, and the aggregate attendance of each scholar during the 
year; also the days on which each school shall have been 

M 



178 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

visited by the City and Assistant Superintendents of Scliools, 
and the School Officers of the ward, and the members of the 
Board of Education, or any of them, which entries shall be 
verified by the oath or afTirmation of the principal teacher in 
such scliool or department. The said books shall be pre- 
served by the Trustees as the property of the school, and 
shall be delivered to their successors. 

4. To make, at least five days before the first day of Jan- 
uary in every year, or such other day as may be designated 
by the Board of Education, in the case of a school kept open 
after the twenty-fifth day of December, and transmit to the 
Board of Education, a report in writing, dated the thirty-first 
day of December, which shall be signed and certified by a 
majority of the Trustees, and which report shall state the 
whole number of schools within their jurisdiction, especially 
designating the schools for colored children ; the length of 
time each school shall have been kept open ; the whole num- 
ber of scholars over four and under twenty-one years of age, 
who shall have been taught, free of expense to such scholars, 
in their schools during the year ending with the date of the 
report, which number shall be ascertained by adding to the 
number of children on register at the commencement of each 
year, the number admitted during that year, which shall be 
considered the total for that year : the average number that 
has actually attended such schools during the year, to be as- 
certained by the teacher's keeping an exact account of the 
number of scholars present every school time or halfday, 
which being added together, and divided by four hundred 
and sixty, or if less than a year, by the number of school 
sessions, shall be considered the average of attending scholars, 
which average shall be sworn or affirmed to by the principal 
teacher of the school ; and a particular account of the state of 
the schools, and of the property and affiiirs of each school un- 
der their care ; and the titles of all books used, with such 
other information as the Board of Education shall require ; 
and for the purposes of this act, each department shall, when- 
ever practicable, be considered as a separate school. 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 179 

5. To hold as a corporation all personal property vested in 
or transferred to them for school purposes in their respective 
wards. 

7. To meet statedly at times to be by them appointed, and 
to declare vacant, by the votes of a majority of the Trustees 
of the ward, the scat of any person elected or appointed as a 
Trustee, who shall refuse or neglect, without satisfactory cause 
shown by him to the said Trustees, to attend any three suc- 
cessive stated meetings of the Trustees, after having been 
previously notified to attend ; and to notify the Clerk of the 
Board of Education, at least twenty days previous to any 
general election, of any vacancy that will exist in the school 
offices of said ward, at the expiration of their present year, 
with the cause or reason of such vacancy or vacancies. 

OF THE CITY SUPERINTENDENT. 

§ 11. The City and Assistant Superintendents of Schools 
shall take and subscribe before the Clerk of the Board of Ed- 
ucation, the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of 
this State ; shall each hold office for the term of two years, 
and until his successor is appointed, subject to removal by 
the Board, on complaint, for cause stated ; shall respectively 
rebeive such compensation as the Board of Education may 
designate, which shall not be changed during the term of 
office of any incumbent; and shall be subject to such rules 
and regulations as the Board of Education may establish. It 
shall be specially the duty of the City Superintendent: 

1, To visit every school under the charge of the Board of 
Education as often as once in each year; to inquire into all 
matters relating to the government, course of instruction, 
books, studies, discipline, and conduct of such schools, and 
the condition of the school-houses, and the schools generally, 
and to advise and to counsel with the Trustees in relation to 
their duties, the proper studies, discipline and conduct of the 
schools, the course of instruction to be pursued, and the books 
of elementary instruction to be used therein ; and to examine, 
ascertain, and report to the Board of Education, whether the 



180 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

provisions of the Act in relation to religious sectarian teach- 
ing and books have been violated in any of the schools of the 
different wards of the city ; and to make a monthly report to 
the Board of Education, stating which of the schools have 
been visited by him, and adding such comments in respect to 
the matters above specified, as he may consider necessary and 
advisable ; and to transmit to the respective Boards of Ward 
Trustees copies of so much of such reports as relates to schools 
under their management. 

2. Under such general rules and regulations as the Board 
of Education may establish, to examine into the qualifications 
of persons proposed as teachers in any of the schools under 
the charge of the Board, and to grant certificates, in the forms 
prescribed by the Board, to such of the persons so examined 
as may be entitled thereto ; which certificates shall specify in 
which class of schools, and in what capacity, the persons to 
whom any certificate is granted are qualified to teach, and 
shall be evidence in respect thereto ; to re-examine, whenever 
the City Superintendent may deem necessary, any of the 
teachers employed in the schools under the charge of the 
Board ; and to annul, for any cause satisfactory to the City 
Superintendent, any license or certificate of qualification, to 
teach in the schools of the City of New York ; but such ac- 
tion shall not be taken by him until he has given at least ten 
days' previous notice to the teacher and to the Trustees of the 
ward in which he is employed, nor until the teacher has been 
allowed a hearing ; nor shall such action disqualify the teach- 
er, until a note of the decision of the City Superintendent, 
stating the name of the teacher and the time when the license 
or certificate was annulled, has been signed by the City Su- 
perintendent, filed in the office of the Clerk of the Board of 
Education, and served upon the teacher : Provided, however, 
that every such teacher shall have a right of appeal to the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, in case such 
appeal is taken by the teacher within ten days after the 
note of the decision is served upon him, he shall not be dis- 
qualified until thie action of the City Superintendent has 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 181 

been confirmed by the State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction. 

8. Generally, by all the means in bis power, under the reg- 
ulations of the Board of Education in respect thereto, to pro- 
mote sound education, elevate the character and qualifications 
of teachers, improve the means of instruction, and advance 
the interests of the schools committed to his charge. 

§ 12. The City Superintendent shall be subject to such 
general rules and regulations as the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction may prescribe ; and appeals from his acts 
and decisions may be made to the Superintendent in the same 
manner, and with like effect, as in cases now provided by 
law ; and he shall make annually, to the State Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction, at such times as shall be appointed 
by him, a report in writing, containing the whole number of 
schools in the city and county, distinguishing the schools 
from which the necessary reports have been made to the 
Board of Education by the Commissioners, Inspectors, and 
Trustees of Common Schools, and containing a certified copy 
of the reports of the Board of Education to the Clerk of 
the city and county, with such additional information as the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction may require, 

§ 13. It shall be the duty of the Board of Education, by 
general rules and regulations, to provide a proper classifica- 
tion of studies, scholars, and salaries, in such manner that, as 
near as practicable, the system of instruction pursued in the 
Common Schools, and the salaries paid to teachers, shall be 
uniform throughout the city. 

OF THE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. 

§ 14. "Whenever the Clerk of the city and county shall re- 
ceive notice from the State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of the amount of moneys apportioned to the County 
of New York for the support and encouragement of Common 
Schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the 
Board of Supervisors of said county ; and the Chamberlain of 
the said city shall apply for and receive the school moneys 



182 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

apportioned to the said county, as soon as tlie same become 
payable, and place the same in the city treasury, for the same 
purposes as the moneys raised under the sixteenth section of 
this act. 

§ 15. The said Board of Supervisors shall annually raise 
and collect, by tax upon the inhabitants of the said city and 
county, a sum of money equal to the sum specified in such 
notice, at the time and in the same manner as the contingent 
charges of the said city and county arc levied and collected ; 
also, a sum of money equal to one-twentieth of one per cent, 
of the value of the real and personal property in the said 
city, liable to be assessed thereon, and pay the same into the 
City Treasur}'-, to be applied to the purposes of Common 
Schools in the said city ; and the Board of Education shall 
apportion the money so raised to each of the schools hereafter 
provided for by this act, except the Free Academy and the 
Evening Schools, according to the number of children over 
four and under twenty-one years of age, who were actual res- 
idents of the city and county of New York at the time of 
their attendance on such schools, without charge, the preced- 
ing year; and the average shall be ascertained by adding to- 
gether the number of such children present at each morning 
and afternoon session of not less than three hours, and di- 
viding the sum by four hundred and sixty ; and if any school 
shall have been organized since the last annual apportion- 
ment, the average shall be ascertained by dividing by a num- 
ber corresponding to the actual number of morning and even- 
ing sessions of not less than three hours each, held since the 
organization of such schools ; and the sum apportioned to 
any schools, other than the "Ward Schools, shall be paid to 
the Trustees, Managers, or Directors of such schools respect- 
ively, by drafts on the City Chamberlain, to be signed by the 
President and Clerk of said Board, and made payable to the 
order of the treasurers of said Trustees, Managers, or Directors. 

§ 16. Said Board of Supervisors shall also raise and collect 
at the same time, and in the same manner, such additional 
sum or sums as the Board of Education, in pursuance of the 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 183 

provisions of the first subdivision of the third section of this 
Act, shall have reported to be necessary for the purposes 
therein mentioned. Such moneys shall be paid into the city 
treasury, and shall, together with the amounts apportioned to 
the schools under the charge of the Board of Education, be 
paid by the Chamberlain of the said city npon the drafts 
drawn on him by the Board of Education, signed by the 
President, and countersigned by the Clerk of the Board, and 
by the Commissioners, or one of them, of the ward for which 
the money is to be paid, except such sums as shall be drawn 
for purposes other than the expenses of Ward Schools, which 
shall be paid by said Chamberlain upon drafts drawn on him 
by said Board, signed by the President and Clerk, and coun- 
tersigned by the Chairman of the Finance Committee of said 
Board, and all the drafts shall be made payable to the person 
or persons entitled to receive the same, except that the pay- 
ment of wages and salaries may be made by pay-rolls, upon 
which each person shall separately receipt for the amount 
paid to such person ; and in every case of payment by a 
pay-roll, the draft for the aggregate amount of wages or sala- 
ries included therein, shall be made payable to the Superin- 
tendent, Principal Teacher, or other of&cer designated for the 
purpose by the By-Laws of the Board of Education. 

§ 17. If any of the said newly-organized Ward Schools, by 
reason of peculiar circumstances, shall be equitably entitled 
to a larger sum than they will receive under an apportion- 
ment made as aforesaid, then the Board of Education shall be 
authorized, and they are hereby required, to make to suck 
schools such further allowance out of the school moneys as 
they, the Board of Education, shall deem just and proper. 

§ 18. No school shall be entitled to, or receive any portion 
of the school moneys, in which the religious doctrines or 
tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall 
be taught, inculcated, or practiced, or in which any book or 
books, containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the 
particular doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or 
other relio-ious sect, or which shall teack the doctrines or ten- 



184 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ets of any other religious sect, or which shall refuse to per- 
mit the visits and examinations provided for in this Act. 
But nothing herein contained shall authorize the Board of 
Education to exclude the Holy Scriptures without note or 
comment, or any selections therefrom, from any of the schools 
provided for by this Act; but it shall not be competent for 
the said Board of Education to decide what version, if any, of 
the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, shall be used 
in any of the schools: Provided, that nothing herein contain- 
ed shall be so construed as to violate the rights of conscience 
as secured by the Constitution of this State and of the United 
States. 

§ 19. If the school moneys apportioned to the Common 
Schools, agreeably to the previous section of this Act, shall 
exceed the necessary and legal expenses of either of such 
schools, the Board of Education shall authorize the payment 
only of such sum or sums as shall be sufficient to provide for 
such expenses ; and any deficiency in the sums apportioned to 
meet the necessary and legal expenses of public education in 
the said schools, shall be supplied by the Common Council 
of the said city, and they are hereby authorized and directed 
to raise by loan, in anticipation of the annual tax, such sum 
or sums as shall be necessary to meet such deficiency. And 
the Board of Education shall in all cases certify to the Com- 
mon Council the cause of such deficiency, and that the same- 
was unavoidable ; and unless such certificate shall be made, 
the said Common Council may refuse to raise the sum re- 
quired to meet such deficiency. 

§ 20. The Board of Education shall require from the Ex- 
ecutive Committees conducting schools by appointment of 
the Board, and from the Trustees, Managers, or Directors of 
the Corporate Schools entitled to participate in the appor< 
tionment of school moneys, a report in all respects similar to 
that required from the Trustees of eacli ward by the tenth 
section of this Act. And in making the apportionment 
among the several schools, no share shall be allotted to any 
school or society from which no suflicient annual report shall 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 185 

have been received for the year ending on the last day of 
December immediately preceding the apportionment, 

§ 21. Whenever an apportionment of the public money 
shall n(ft be made to any school, in consequence of any acci- 
dental omission to make any report required by law, or to 
comply with any other regulation or provision of law, the 
Board of Education may, in its discretion, direct an appor- 
tionment to be made to such school, according to the equita- 
ble circumstances of the case, to be paid out of the public 
money on hand, or, if the same shall have been distributed, 
out of the public money to be received in a succeeding year. 

OF THE SCHOOLS ENTITLED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE APPOR- 
TIONMENT. 

§ 22. The New York Orphan Asylum School, the Eoman 
Catholic Orphan Asyluhi School, the schools of the two 
Half-orphan Asylums, the school of the Mechanics' Society, 
the school of the Society for the Eeformation of Juvenile 
Delinquents in the City of New York, the Hamilton Free 
School, the school for the Leake and Watts' Orphan-house, 
the school connected with the Almshouse of the said city, 
the school of the Association for the Benefit of Colored Or- 
phans, the schools of the American Female Guardian Socie- 
ty, the schools of the Society for the Promotion of Educa- 
tion among Colored Children, the schools organized under 
the Act entitled " An Act to extend to the City and County 
of New York the provisions of the general Act in relation to 
Common Schools," passed April 11, 1842, or an Act to amend 
the same, passed April 18, 1843, or an Act entitled " An Act 
more effectually to provide for Common School Education 
in the City and County of New York," passed May 7, 1844, 
or any of the Acts amending the same, and including such 
Normal Schools for the education of Teachers as the Board' 
of Education may organize, and the Normal School of the 
Public School Society for the education of Teachers, and such 
schools as may be organized under the provisions of this Act, 
shall be subject to the general supervision of the Board of Ed- 



186 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

ucation, and shall be entitled to participate in the apportion- 
ment of the school moneys as provided for by this Act, but 
they shall be under the immediate direction of their respec- 
tive Trustees, Managers, and Directors, as herein protided. 

OF NEW SCnOOLS. 

§ 23. Whenever a majority of the School Officers of any 
ward shall certify in writing to the Board of Education, that 
it is necessary to establish a school in said ward, with the 
facts and circumstances showing such necessity, together with 
the number and class of scholars who will probably attend 
such school, if established, it shall be the duty of the Board 
of Education, without delay, to investigate the subject, and 
to determine the expediency of establishing such school in 
such ward applying for the same. Should the ward officers, 
or any of them, deem themselves aggrieved by such decision, 
they may appeal to the State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction, who shall decide as to the propriety of the estab- 
lishment of such school, and his decision, if adverse ,to the 
appellants, shall be binding for the term of one year. 

§ 2-i. Upon a decision favorable to the establishment of a 
school or schools in any of the wards of said city, it shall be 
lawful for the School Officers of said ward to proceed to or- 
ganize one or more schools, such as may be authorized by 
the Board of Education, and procure a school-house, by pur- 
chasing or hiring the same, or by procuring a site and erect- 
ing a building thereon, according to plans and specifications, 
and contracts which shall have been duly filed with and ap- 
proved by the Board of Education ; the erection of which 
said building, and the fitting up thereof, and the fitting up 
of any hired building, shall be done by contract, proposals 
for which shall be advertised for two weeks previous to de- 
'ciding upon estimates thereon, unless such fitting up shall 
not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars ; and the expense 
of establishing and organizing any school, as above-mention- 
ed, shall be levied and raised pursuant to the provisions of 
this Act. 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 187 

§ 25. The title to all school property, real and personal, 
purchased with any moneys derived from the distribution or 
apportionment of the school moneys, or raised by taxation in 
the city of New York, shall be vested in the Mayor, Alder- 
men and Commonalty of said City, but shall be under the 
care and control of the Board of Education for the purposes 
of public education ; and all suits in relation to the same shall 
be brought in the name of said Board, and no contract or 
contracts shall be made by the School Officers of any ward 
for the purchase of any site, without the consent of the Board 
of Education, or for the erection, or fitting up, or repairing of 
any building, when such repairs shall exceed in amount the 
sum of two hundred dollars, as authorized in this Act, until a 
statement in writing of the amount required for that purpose 
shall have been presented to the Board of Education by said 
School Officers, and together with a copy of the working draw- 
ings, plans, and specifications of the work to be done, pursu- 
ant to the provisions of this Act, shall have been duly filed 
and approved of as herein required, and an appropriation 
shall have been made by the Board of Education therefor. 

§ 26. The Trustees, Managers, and Directors of any of the' 
Corporate Schools entitled to participate in the apportion- 
ment of the school moneys, may at any time convey their 
school-houses and sites to the Corporation of the City of New 
York, and transfer any of their schools to the Board of Edu- 
cation, on the terms and in the manner to be agreed upon 
and prescribed by the Board of Education, so as either to 
merge the said schools in the Ward Schools or adopt them 
as Ward Schools ; and the same shall then be Ward Schools, 
subject to all the rules, duties, and liabilities, and enjoy the 
same rights, as if they had been originally established as Ward 
Schools. 

OF THE DISCONTINUANCE OF SCHOOLS. 

§ 27. Whenever, owing to any nuisance or other circum- 
stances in the immediate vicinity of any school, or to the 
small attendance of scholars therein, or other sufficient rea- 



188 iiis'i'oiiv OK ruiiMC kducation. 

son, it k1i:i11 nppcai- U> llic Board of l^kliication necessary and 
jiroper to discontinue such school in any of tlio wards of this 
city, the said Board shall give notice to the Trustees of said 
school of its intention to consider the propriety of sucli dis- 
continuance ; and in thirty days after such notice, may pro- 
ceetl to iii\H>sti^ate the niattei", and if a majority of the School 
OHicers of the ward shall consent to the same, and if the 
said Board shall determine by a vote of a majority of all the 
members thereof that it is proj)er to close the sam(\ it shall 
bo the duty of said Board to withhold all moneys which may 
have bcHMi apportioned or appropriated for the sujii)i)rt of said 
school, and the said school shajl not thereafter participate in 
any subsecpient apportioinnent of the school moneys. So 
soon as the same sliall take cllect, the Cotn})troller of the city 
shall bo notified thereof by the said ]>oard, Q,nd the said 
school-house and site may thereupon be used or disposed of, 
as a jiart of the general property of the city. 

]M ISirRLTiANEOUS TROVISIONS. 

§ 28. The Common Council of the City of New York arc 
hereby authorized and directed to raise by loan, in anticipa- 
tion of the taxes, when necessary, all moneys required for 
erecting, })urchasing, or leasing school-houses, and jn-ocuring 
sites therefor, and the fitting up and furnishing thereof, and 
for alterations in, or additions to, the present school build- 
ings, or required for any other of the purposes authorized by 
this Act. 

§ 25). All expenses ine\irred for the support of Common 
Schools in the respective wards shall be certified by the Trus- 
tees of Common Schools in such ward, or a majority of them, 
and delivered to the Inspectors of said ward; and it shall bo 
the duty of said Inspectors lo examine and audit the same, 
and upon said Inspectors being satisfied of their correctness, 
to certify the same to the ]^oard of liducation. All bills 
audited and i>aid shall be filed with the lK)ard of Education. 

^ oO. No eompensatit)n shall be allowed to the Commis- 
sioners, Inspectors, or Trustees of Common Schools for any 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 189 

services performed by them, but the Commissioners and In- 
spectors shall receive their actual and reasonable expenses 
while attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and 
allowed by the Board of Education. 

§ 31. Every School Officer who shall refuse or neglect to 
render an account, or to pay over any balance in his hands, 
at the expiration of his term of oflicc, shall, for each offense, 
forfeit the sura of fifty dollars, which sum, together with said 
unpaid balance, shall be sued for and collected by the Board 
of Supervisors, who shall prosecute without delay for the re- 
covery of such forfeiture, together with the unpaid balance ; 
and in case of the death of such School OflEicer, suit may be 
brought against his representatives, and all moneys recover- 
ed, after deducting expenses, shall be placed at the disposal 
of the Board of Education. 

§ 32. Every person in the employ of the Board of Educa- 
tion, and every School Officer, and every officer or teacher of 
a school or society, who shall willfully sign a false report 
to the Board of Education, shall, for each offense, forfeit the 
sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall be deemed guilty of 
misdemeanor; and every such person or officer, who shall 
willfully misapply any of the public funds committed to his 
care, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement. 

§ 33. The following shall be substantially the form of oath 
or aflirmation to be made by the Teacher : 

"A. B., of the City of New York, Teacher of 
No. department, being duly sworn or affirmed, declares 

and says, that to the best of (his or her) knowledge and be- 
lief, the average number of children, actual residents of the 
city and county of New York, at the time of attending said 
school, between the ages of four and twenty-one years, who 
attended said school or department, each school-time or half- 
day, from the day of to the first day of Janua- 
ry, , was , said average having been obtain- 
ed by adding together the number of scholars present each 
school-time or half-day, and dividing the total by four hundred 
and sixty, agreeably to the fifteenth section of this Act." 



100 IIISTOHY OF i'UllLiO EDUCATION. 

§ 34, III any .■^iiiL wliicli .sliall licrcaftcr be commenced 
against the C/omniissioncrs or Trustees of Common Schools 
lor any act performed by virtue of or under color of their of- 
fices, or for any refusal or omission to perform any duty en- 
joined by law, and which might have been the subject of an 
appeal to the Superintendent, no costs shall be allowed to the 
l)!;iiutilf in cases where the court shall certify it appeared, on 
l\\c trial of tho cause, that the defendants acted in good faith. 
But this provision shall not extend to suits for penalties, nor 
to suits or })roceedings to enforce the decisions of the State 
SujHM'inliMident of i\iblie Instruction. 

§ 35. All children between tho ages of four and twenty- 
one, residing in tlu; cily and county, shall be entitled to at- 
tend any of the Common Schools therein ; and the j)arents, 
guardians, or other persons having the custody or care of such 
chiklnm, shall not be liable to any tax, assessment, or imposi- 
tion, for the tuition of any children, other than is hereinbefore 
provided. 

§ o(!. The Free Academy iu the City of New York shall 
bo entitled lo participate in the distribution of the income of 
tlu^ Literature a"nd other funds, in tho same manner and upon 
the same conditions as the other Academies of the State ; ami 
the Ivegents-of tho University of the State of New York shall 
pay ainiually to the Board of Education of the City and Coun- 
ty of JMew York, tho distributive share of the said funds to 
which the said Free Academy shall by law be entitled, and 
which shall be applied and expended for library books for the 
said Free Academy. 

§ 37. The Clerk of the Board of Education is hereby au- 
thori/eil to administer oaths and tako aHidavits in all matters 
apjicrtaining to tho schools in the City and County of New 
^'ork, and for that ])urpose shall })ossess all the powers of a 
commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any of the 
foes or emoluments thereof 

§ 38. No School Officer shall be interested in any contract, 
payments under which are to bo made, in whole or in part, 
t)ut of moneys derived friMu the School I'und or raised bv tax- 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 191 

ation for the support of Common Schools. No teacher em- 
ployed in any of the schools entitled to participate in the ap- 
portionment of the school moneys shall hereafter be eligible 
to the office of Commissioner, Inspector, or Trustee of Com- 
mon Schools, 

§ 39. The Superintendent of School Buildings shall take 
and subscribe before the Clerk of the Board of Education the 
oath prescribed by the Constitution of this State, and give 
such security for the faithful performance of the duties of his 
office as the Board of Education may direct; and the de- 
partment under his charge shall be subject to such rules 
and regulations as the said Board may establish, one of which 
shall prohibit the performance by him of any work on other 
account similar to that performed under the regulations so es- 
tablished. 

"All the ordinary appropriations made for the support 
and government of the Almshouse ])epartmcnt shall, be- 
fore the same are finally made, be submitted by the Gover- 
nors of the Almshouse to a Board of Commissioners, con- 
sisting of the Mayor, Recorder, Comptroller, the President ol 
the Board of Aldermen, and the President of the Board of 
Councilmen ; if the said Commissioners approve of the appro- 
priation, they shall immediately report the same to the Board 
of Supervisors ; if they shall disapprove of the same, they 
shall return them with their objections to the Governors of 
the Almshouse for reconsideration, and in case the said 
Governors shall, upon a reconsideration, adhere by a vote of 
two-thirds of all the Governors then in office to the original 
appropriations, they shall return them to the Commissioners, 
whose duty it shall be to report to the Board of Supervisors. 

"The Board of Education shall also submit in like man- 
ner all appropriations, required by them, to the Commission- 
ers named in the last preceding section, and said appropria- 
tions shall be subject to all the provisions of said section, so 
far as the same may be applicable.'" 

' The last two paragraphs are from another law relating to city afTuirH, hut 
arc here inserted for obvious reasons. 



192 niSTOllY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

An Act relative to Common Schools in the City of New York. 

Passed June 4, 1853. 

§ 3. The Commissioners referred to in the seventeenth sec- 
tion of the Aet entitled " An Aet further to amend the char- 
ter of the City of New York," passed the twelfth day of April, 
one" thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, shall approve of 
and report to the Board of Supervisors all appropriations sub- 
mitted to the said Commissioners by the Board of, Education, 
within twenty days after such submission is made, by a de- 
livery of a statement of the appropriations required by tbe 
Board of Education, to the Comptroller, who shall immediate- 
ly convene the said Commissioners to consider the same ; or 
else the said Commissioners shall, within the said twenty 
days, return and file the same, with their objections, in the 
office of the Clerk of the Board of Education ; and the pro- 
visions of the said Act shall cease to operate upon or affect, 
from and after the expiration of the said twenty days, any ap- 
propriation in respect to which the said Commissioners shall 
have omitted to take such action ; or any appropriation to 
which the Board of Education, upon a reconsideration pursu- 
ant to said Act, shall have adhered by the requisite vote of 
two thirds which the said Commissioners shall omit to report, 
within ten days after the return thereof to them, to the Board 
of Supervisors. And the provisions of the said Act shall ap- 
ply to such only of the appropriations required by the Board 
of Education as arc required by law to be acted upon by the 
Board of Supervisors. ' 

CHANGES IN THE SCnOOL LAWS. 

On the 25th day of April, 1864, the Legislature of the state, 
then in session, passed an act relative to Common Schools in 
the city of New York, of which the following is an attested 
copy: 

§ 1. The city of New York is hereby divided into seven 
School Districts, as follows : 

First District— First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, 
and Eighth Wards. 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 193 

Second District — Seventh, Tenth, Thirteenth, and Four- 
teenth Wards. 

Third District — Ninth and Sixteenth Wards. 

Fourth District — Eleventh and Seventeenth Wards. 

Fifth District — Fifteenth and Eighteenth Wards. 

Sixth District — Twentieth and Twenty-first Wards. 

Seventh District — Twelfth, Nineteenth, and Twenty -sec- 
ond Wards. 

§ 2. At every charter election in the said city, there shall 
be elected in each School District one Commissioner of Com- 
mon Schools, who shall take office on the first day of January 
next after his election, and hold oC[ice for the term of three 
years; and there shall also be elected in each ward one 
Trustee of Common Schools, who shall take office on the first 
day of January next after' his election, and hold ofEce for the 
term of five years ; and no School Officer shall hereafter be 
elected or appointed in the said city, except as provided by 
this act, and no person shall at the same time hold more than 
one school office. 

§ 3. On the second Wednesday in January, one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-six, the Mayor of the city shall nom- 
inate to the Board of Education one person for each School 
District as a Commissioner of Common Schools, and the said 
Board shall appoint or reject each of the persons so nomina- 
ted. If any of them shall be rejected, the Mayor shall make 
a new nomination, and shall continue to nominate until seven 
shall be appointed by the Board. The person so appointed 
shall hold oflice until the first day of January, one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-seven. 

§ 4. On the third Wednesday in November in every year 
the Mayor of the city shall nominate to the Board of Educa- 
tion one person for each School District as an Inspector of 
Common Schools in the District, for the term of three years, 
from and after the first day of January then next. The 
Board of Education shall, on the first Wednesday in Decem- 
ber, vote by yeas and nays upon the appointment of each of 
the persons nominated ; and every person who shall receive 

N 



194 iiiaTOJiV OF j'uiJLic education. 

the Jinirtnalivo votes of ;i majority of the whole Bonixl, shall 
be appointed. If any of the persons so nominated shall fail to 
reeeivo the votesof amjijiMvity of the whole IJoard, the ^layor 
shall make a now nomination, and shall eontinuc to nominate 
until an ai)pt)inlinont shall bo made for oaeh Disti'ict, in the 
manner and for the term prcseribcd in this soelion. 

§ 5. If, on the seeond Wednesday in January noxl, there 
shall be in any Sehool Distriet more than two Inspoetors of 
Common Sohools in ofliee by po]>ular eloetion, llio Hoard of 
l^Alueation siiall select two of them, and sueli of the said In- 
spectors as are not selected shall immediately cease to hold 
offioo. After such reduction in the number of Inspectors lias 
been made, the Board of Education shall select by lot one of 
the two Inspectors in each Distriet, in odiee by popular elec- 
tion, and the InsiHX'ttu- selected shall be an Inspector for the 
Distriet, and shall hold olViee until the expiration of the term 
for which he was elected, and the Inspector not selected shall 
cease to hold oniee unless the Board of Education shall ap- 
point him an Insjiector for the District, in which case he shall 
hold olViee until the ihirty-first day of December, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-six. 

§ 6. Vacancies in school ofTices wshall be filled as follows: 
If there shall bo less than three Commissioners or three In- 
spectors in any District, every vacancy shall be filled in the 
case of a Commissioner until the same can be filled at a char- 
ter election; and in the case of an Inspector for the unex- 
pired i)ortiou of the term in which the vacancy exists, in the 
manner provided by this act for the appointment of Inspect- 
ors ; and if there shall be less than five Trustees in any Ward, 
every vacancy shall be filled by the I\rayor and a majority 
of the Inspectors for the Distriet in which the Ward is in- 
cluded, until the same can bo filled at a charter election. 
Every vacancy in the ofiiee of a Commissioner or Trustee, oc- 
curring more than ten days previous to any charter election, 
shall be filled at the next charter election for the unexpired 
jHU'tion of the term in which the vacancy exists. 

§ 7. The elections held by virtue of this act, shall be sub- 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUJJIilC INSTKUGTION. 195 

ject to the same laws and regulations in all respects, so far as 
the same may be applicable, as those which govern the char- 
ter elections in said city; but the ballots for School OfTicers 
shall be indorsed " School Ofhcers, Number ," and deposit- 
ed in a separate box. Every person voted for to fill a vacancy 
in a school office shall be designated in the ballot by the 
words "To fill a vacancy," written or printed immediately 
over his name; or, if there bo more than one vacancy to be 
filled, the person to be voted for shall respectively be desig- 
nated by the words " To fill vacancy of years." 

§ 8. Every School Officer shall, at the time of his election 
or appointment, be a resident of the District or Ward for 
which he is elected or appointed, and every Trustee remov- 
ing from the Ward for which he is elected or appointed, and 
every School Officer removing from the city, shall tliereby 
vacate his offiice. 

§ 9. The ]ioard of Education shall bo judges of the elec- 
tion and qualification of its members. 

§ 10. Every person elected or appointed to a school office 
in said city shall, before entering on the duties of his office, 
and within fifteen days after the commencement of the term 
for which he is elected, or from the time of being notified of 
his appointment to fill a vacancy, take and subscribe, before 
the Clerk of the Board of Education, the oath of office j)re- 
scribcd by the Constitution of this State; and the school office 
to which any person who shall omit to take the said oath 
within the time and in the manner above described, may have 
been elected or appointed, shall be vacant at and frrjrn the ex- 
piration of the said fifteen days. 

§ 11. The first section of an act entitled "An Act to 
amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the various acts rel- 
ative to the Common Schools of the City of New York," passed 
July third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and so much of all 
other acts heretofore passed as is amendatory of the said sec- 
tion, are hereby repealed ; but this section shall not affect the 
continuance in office of the present School Officers, nor their 
powers or duties. 



196 mSTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

§ 12. The schools in the several Wards shall be classilicd 
as Grammar, Primary, and Evening Schools, and teachers for 
the said schools shall be appointed as follows : Principals and 
Vice-principals, by the Board of Education, upon the written 
nomination of a majority of the Trustees of the Ward, stating 
that the nomination was agreed to at a meeting of the Board 
of Trustees at which a majority of the whole number in office 
was present. Other teachers, and also janitors, shall be ap- 
pointed by a majority of the Trustees for the Ward at a meet- 
ing of the Board of Trustees. Any teacher may be removed 
by the Board of Education upon the recommendation of the 
City Superintendent, or of a majority of the Trustees for the 
Ward, or of a majority of the Inspectors for the District. The 
Board of Trustees for the Ward, by the vote of a majority of 
the whole mimbcr of Trustees in office, may also remove teach- 
ers employed therein other than Principals and Vice-princi- 
pals, and may also remove janitors, provided the removal is 
approved in writing by a majority of the Inspectors for the 
District ; and provided further, that any teacher so removed 
shall have a right to appeal to the Board of Education, under 
such rules as it may prescribe, and the said Board shall have 
power, after hearing the answer of the Trustees, to reinstate 
the teacher. 

§ 13. Subdivision three of section two of the act entitled 
"An Act to amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the 
various acts relative to the Common Schools of the City of 
New York," passed July third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, 
as subsequently amended, is hereby amended so as to read as 
follows : 

3. To remove from office any School Officer who shall have 
been directly or indirectly interested in the furnishing of any 
supplies or materials, or in the doing of any work or labor, or 
in the sale or leasing of any real estate, or in any proposal, 
agreement, or contract for any of these purposes, in any case 
in which the price or consideration is to be paid, in whole or 
in part, or directly or indirectly out of any school moneys ; or 
who shall have received, from any source whatever, any com- 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 197 

mission or other compensation in connection witli any of the 
matters aforesaid ; and any School Officer who shall violate 
the preceding provisions of this section, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall 
be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and 
imprisonment in the city prison not exceeding one year, and 
shall also be ineligible to any school office. The Board shall 
also have power to remove from offiicc any School Officer who 
shall have been guilty of immoral or disgraceful conduct in 
any matter connected with his official duties, or which tends 
to discredit his office or the school system. If one or more 
School Officers or tax-payers of the city of New York shall 
present a written charge to the Board of Education, accusing 
any School Officer of a violation of, or a liability to, any of 
the provisions of this section, it shall be the duty of the said 
Board to cause the same to be fully investigated. All testi- 
mony taken upon any such investigation shall be under oath ; 
and the Court of Common Pleas shall have power, upon the 
application of the Board Education, to compel any witness 
who may have been duly summoned, to appear and testify be- 
fore the said Board or any committee thereof 

§ 14. The ninth section of the act entitled " An Act to 
amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the various acts rel- 
ative to the Common Schools of the City of New York," pass- 
ed July third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, is hereby amend- 
ed so as to read as follows : 

§ 9. It shall be the duty of the Inspectors of Common 
Schools, or a majority of them, in their respective districts, to 
examine in respect to every expense certified as correct by a 
majority of the Trustees of any Ward in the District, and to 
audit every such expense which may be just and reasonable ; 
and no expense shall be paid unless audited in this manner. 
They shall also examine, at least once in every quarter, all 
the schools in the District, in respect to the punctual and 
regular attendance of the pupils and teachers, the number, 
fidelity, and competency of the teachers, the studies, progress, 
order, and discipline of the pupils, the cleanliness, safety, warm- 



198 HISTORY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION", 

ing, ventilation, and comfort of the scliool premises ; and 
whether or not the provisions of the school laws, in respect 
to the teaching of sectarian doctrines, or the use of sectarian 
books, have been violated, and call the attention of the 
Trustees without delay, to every matter requiring immediate 
action. They shall also, on or before the thirty-first day of 
December, in each year, make a written report to the Board 
of Education and to the Board of Trustees, in respect to the 
condition, cHiciency, and wants of the district, in respect to 
schools and school premises. 

§ 15. Until the iirst day of January next, the Inspectors of 
Common Schools sliall have the powers and duties now con- 
ferred upon thom b}^ law, except that the signature of one in- 
spector shall be sufficient to audit any bill or claim. 

§ 10. Subdivision two of section eleven of the act entitled 
"An Act to amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the 
various acts relative to the Common Schools of the city of 
New York," passed July third, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
one, as subsequently amended, is hereby amended so as to 
read as follows : 

2. ITnder such general rules and regulations as the Board 
of Education may establish, to examine into the qualifications 
of persons proposed as teachers in any of the schools under 
the charge of the Board. Such examination shall be con- 
ducted by the City Superintendent of Schools, or such one of 
liis assistants as he may designate, in the presence of at least 
two Inspectors of Common Schools, who shall be designated 
for the purpose by the b3''-laws of the Board of Education. 
Licenses shall be granted to those persons found upon sucb 
examination to be entitled thereto, w'hich shall bo in the 
form prescribed by the said by-laws, shall be signed by the 
City Superintendent, and by at least two Inspectors des- 
ignated for the purpose, who shall certify that they were 
present at the examination, and concur in granting the 
license. The license of any teacher may be revoked for any 
cause affecting the morality or competency of the teacher, by 
the written certificate of the City Superintendent, and the 



LAWS EELATIYE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 199 

written concurrence of two of the Inspectors for the District in 
which the teacher is employed ; but no such action shall be 
taken until at least ten days' previous notice has been allowed ; 
nor shall it take effect until such certificate of revocation has 
been filed in the office of the Clerk of the Board of Education, 
and a copy served upon the teacher. It shall be the duty of 
the City Superintendent to re-examine any teacher upon the 
written request of any two Inspectors of the District, or three 
Trustees of the Ward, in which the teacher is employed. Any 
teacher whose license has been revoked as aforesaid, may ap- 
peal to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, with- 
in ten days after service of a copy of the certificate of revo- 
cation by the servipe of a written notice of appeal upon the 
City Superintendent ; and in case such appeal is taken, the 
teacher shall not be disqualified until the revocation is con- 
firmed by the State Superintendent. The City Superintend- 
ent, in his annual report to the Board of Education, shall 
include a list of the licenses granted and revoked by him. 

§ 17. Section twenty-three of the act entitled " An Act to 
amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the various acts 
relative to the Common Schools of the City of New York," 
passed July third, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, is hereby 
amended so as to read as follows: 

§ 23. The Board of Education may, with the consent of a 
majority of the Trustees of the Ward, or without such con- 
sent, by vote of two-thirds of the Board of Education, dis- 
continue any Grammar, Primary, Evening, or Colored School; 
and the said Board may also authorize the establishment of a 
new school, upon the written application of a majority of the 
Trustees for the Ward. It shall be the duty of the Board of 
Education to decide finally upon every such application with- 
in thirty-five days after the same is presented to it; and if 
the said Board shall omit to do so, or shall deny the applica- 
tion, and a majority of the Inspectors for the District shall 
certify that there is probable cause for granting the applica- 
tion, the Trustees may appeal to the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, whose decision in the matter shall be 



200 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

binding upon all the parties ; and if adverse to the applica- 
tion, the same shall not bo renewed during the term of one 
year next hereafter. 

§ 18. The seventh section of the act entitled " An Act to 
amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act, the various acts 
relative to the Common Schools of the City of New York," 
passed July third, eighteen hundreo' and fifty-one, as subse- 
quently amended, and subdivision four of section eight of 
the same act are hereby repealed, but this section shall not 
take eftect until the first day of January next. 

§ 19. The second subdivision of the tenth section of the 
act entitled "An Act to amend, consolidate, and reduce to one 
act, the various acts relative to the Comjnon Schools, of the 
City of New York," passed July third, eighteen hundred and 
fifty-one, as subsequently amended, is hereby amended so as 
to read as follows : 

2. Under such general rules and regulations, and subject 
to such limitations as the Board of Education may prescribe; 
to conduct and manage the said schools; to furnish all need- 
ful supplies therefor, and to make all needful repairs, altera- 
tions, and additions, in and to the school premises. 

§ 20. The Commissioners, Inspectors, and Trustees, elect- 
ed or appointed in pursuance of the provisions of this act, 
shall respectively possess and exercise the powers and duties 
which the Commissioners, Inspectors, and Trustees of Com- 
mon Schools now lawfully possess and exercise, except as is 
herein otherwise provided. 

§ 21. This act shall take effect immediately. 

The principal changes produced by this act may bo thus 
enumerated : 

First — The Board of Education is reduced from forty-four 
members elected by Wards, to twenty-one members elected, 
three from each of seven Districts. 

JSecond — The Boards of Trustees are reduced from ten 
members, consisting of the Commissioners ex officio and eight 
Trustees, to five Trustees only. 

Third — The Inspectors, instead of being two in each Ward, 



LAWS KELATIVE TO TUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 201 

elected by the people, will be tlirec in each of seven Districts, 
selected by the Mayor and Board of l^Jducation. 

Fourth — Vacancies in the office of Commissioner are to be 
filled by the Mayor and the Board of Education for the bal- 
ance of the year ; vacancies in the office of Inspector are to 
be filled by the Mayor and the Board of Education for the 
balance of the unexpired term, and vacancies in the office of 
Trustee to be filled by the Mayor and the Inspectors of the 
District embracing the Ward, for the balance of the year. 

Flj'Lh — A School Officer removing from the Ward or city, 
vacates his office. 

Hlxtli — Principals and Vice-principals of schools are to be 
nominated to the Board of Education, in writing, by a major- 
ity of Trustees. Other teachers and janitors are to be ap- 
pointed by a majority of the Trustees. 

Seventh — Eemovals of teachers may be made by the Board 
of Education, upon the recommendation, either of the City 
Superintendent, of a majority of the Trustees of the Ward, 
or a majority of the Inspectors of the District. A majority 
of the Trustees may remove teachers other than Principals or 
Vice-principals, and janitors, on the approval in writing of a 
majority of the Inspectors of the District in which the Ward 
is located; but any teacher so removed may appeal to the 
Board of Education, who shall have the power to reinstate 
the teacher, after hearing the answer of the Trustees. 

Eighth — The Board of Education have power to remove 
any School Officer for any conduct tending to throw discredit 
on his office or the school system. On complaint of any 
School Officer, or any tax-payer against any School Officer, 
the Board of Education shall investigate the matter, examine 
witnesses under oath, and the Court of Common Pleas may 
compel the attendance of any witnesses either before the 
Board of Education or any committees thereof, 

NintJ) — All bills passed by the Boards of Trustees shall 
be audited by the District Inspectors. 

Tenth — Licenses to teach shall hereafter be granted by the 
City Superintendent or one of his assistants, in the presence 



20'2 niSTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

of at least two inspectors to be designated for that duty by 
the Board of Education. Licenses may be revoked on a hear- 
ing and on ten days' notice, by the City Superintendent, witb 
the concurrence of two Inspectors of the District in which the 
teacher is employed. The City Superintendent shall re-ex- 
amine any teacher on request of any two Inspectors of the 
District, or any three Trustees of the AVard. Any teaclier 
whose license is revoked, maj' appeal to the State Superin- 
tendent, and shall not be disqualitiod until such revocation is 
cpniirmed. 

Eleventh — The Board of Education may, with consent of a 
majority of Trustees, or without such consent, by a two-third 
vote, discontinue any school, and may establish an}- school 
on the written application of a majority- of the Trustees of the 
Ward. Such applications must be decided within thirty-five 
days after their presentation ; and in case of fiiilure to act, or 
denial of the application, on obtaining from the District In- 
spector a certificate that there is probable cause for granting 
such application, the Trustees may appeal to the State Su- 
perintendent, whose decision shall be final, and, if adverse, 
the application shall not be renewed for one year. 

Twelfth — The limit of two hundred dollare to expenses of 
the Local Boards is abolished, and school repairs, etc., are to 
be made by the Trustees, under such rules and regulations as 
the Board of Education may establish. 



An Act to erect the ^^ Free Academy of the City of New York" 

into a College. 

Passed March 30, 1S66, by a Majority. 

The People of the State of Keiv York, represented in Senate and 
Assemhli/, do enact as folio ws: 

Sectiox 1. The Free Academy in the city of New York, 
heretofore established under the authority of law, by the 
Board of Education of the city and county of New York, 
and now under the supervision, management, and govern- 
ment of the said Board of Education, shall henceforth be a 



LAWS KELATIVE TO PUBLIC IFSTRUCTIOISr. 203 

distinct and separate organization and body corporate, and be 
known as " Tlie College of the City of New York," and, as 
such, shall have the powers and privileges of a college, pur- 
suant to the Eevised Statutes of this state, and be subject to 
the provisions of the said statute relative to colleges, and to 
the visitation of the Eegents of the University, in like man- 
ner with the other colleges of the state. 

Sec. 2. The members of the said Board of Education shall 
be ex officio the Trustees of said College, and shall have and 
possess the powers conferred upon, and be subject to the 
duties required of trustees of colleges by the Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 3. All acts of the Legislature now in force in regard 
to the said Free Academy, and to its control, management, 
support, and affairs, and which are not inconsistent with the 
foregoing provisions of this act, shall continue in force, and 
are hereby declared to be applicable to the College hereby 
incorporated as aforesaid. 

Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

An Act in Relation to the College of the City of New York. 

Passed April 17, 1866, Three-fifths being Present. 
The People of the State of New York^ represented in Senate and 
Assembly^ do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The Trustees of the College of the City of 
New York shall annually, on or before the fifteenth day of 
November, report to the Board of Supervisors of the county 
of New York, such sum not exceeding one hundred and 
twenty-five thousand dollars, in any one year, as they may 
require for the payment of the salaries of the professors and 
officers of the said College, for obtaining and furnishing sci- 
entific apparatus, books for the library and students, and all 
other supplies therefor, for repairing and altering the College 
building, and for the support, maintenance, and general ex- 
penses of said College. And the said Board of Supervisors 
of the county of New York are hereby authorized and di- 
rected, in each and every year, to raise and collect by tax on 
the estate, real and personal, liable to taxation in such county, 



20-i HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOISr. 

such sum of money, not to exceed the amount aforesaid, as 
may be reported to them by said Trustees, the amount so to 
be raised and collected to be in addition to the sums required 
for the purposes of Common Schools in the city of New 
York, under the act entitled "An Act to amend, consol- 
idate, and reduce to one act the various acts of the city of 
New York relative to Common Schools," passed July third, 
eighteen hundred and fifty-one, and the various acts amend- 
atory thereof. And the said Board of Supervisors are re- 
quired and directed to raise and collect, in the manner afore- 
said, for the Trustees of said College, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-six, the sum of one hundred and 
twenty-five thousand dollars, for the uses and purposes afore- 
said. 

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Trustees hereinbefore 
named, to select a suitable site upon the lands of the Corpo- 
ration of the City of New York, north of Fortieth street in 
said city, for the future use of the College of the City of New 
York, and notify the Commissioner of the Sinking Fund of 
such selection, and such site shall not be sold, leased, or other- 
wise encumbered unless such disposition thereof is expressly 
authorized by some law hereafter passed. 

TITLES OF SCHOOL ACTS RELATING TO THE CITY 
OF NEW YORK. 

An act to direct certain moneys to be applied to the use 
of Free Schools in the city of New York. Passed April 8, 
1801. Sess. Laws (Webster k Skinner's ed.), vol. 2, p. 253. 
Directs the school moneys apportioned to New York to be 
paid " to the Vestry of the Episcopal Church, the Vestry of 
Christ Church, the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church, 
the Minister, Elders, and Deacons of the Eeformed Dutch 
Church, the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
Trustees of the Scotch Presbyterian Church belonging to the 
Associated Eeformed Synod, and to the Trustees of the Afri- 
can School, and to the Trustees of the United German Luther- 
an, the Trustees of the German Reformed Churches, to the 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTEUCTION. 205 

Trustees of the First Baptist Church' in the city of New York, 
and to the Trustees of the United Brethren or Moravian 
Church, each, one-eleventh part of all the money in the hands 
of the Common Council." 

An act to incorporate the Society formed in the city of 
ISTew York for promoting the Manumission of Slaves, and pro- 
tecting such of them as have been or may be liberated. 
Passed February 19, 1803. Society formed 1785. School 
opened 1787. 

An act to incorporate the Society instituted in the city of 
ISTew York for the establishment of a Free School for the edu- 
cation of poor children, who do not belong to and are not 
provided for by any religious society. Passed April 9, 1805. 
Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 4, p. 265. Com- 
mon School education from date of this law until 1842 was 
substantially in charge of this society, whose principal found- 
er and promoter was De Witt Clinton. 

An act to incorporate the Trustees of the First Protestant 
Episcopal Charity School in the city of New York. Passed 
March 14, 1806. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's ed.), vol. 
4, p. 378. This act incorporated a school to be kept instead 
of the Free School maintained for many years previous, under 
the care and management of the Corporation of Trinity 
Church. 

An act for the further encouragement of Free Schools in 
the city of New York. Passed March 30, 1811. Sess. Laws 
(Webster & Skinner's ed.), p. 172. Gives to the Free School 
Society $4000 of the moneys arising from the- excise duties 
then in the city treasury, and $1000 a year thereafter. 

An act supplementary to the act entitled " An Act for the 
Establishment of Common Schools." Passed March 12, 1813. 
Sess. Laws, p. 38. The General School Act of 1812 did not 
apply to New York City. By this act the city was permitted 
to share in the distribution of the revenue of the school fund. 
The city was required to raise a sum equal to its share of such 
school money. The Common Council appointed school com- 
missioners to receive and apportion it. It was to be paid " to 



200 HISTOID' OK I'UBLIO EDUCATION. 

tlio Trustees of tlio Free School Society in said city of New 
Y^ork, ixiul tlie Trustees or Ti-easurer of tlie Oi'})luin's Asylum 
Society, tlu; Society of the J^lcoiiomiciil School in the city of 
New York, the African Vrco School, and of such incor])orated 
religious societies in said city as now support or shall bere- 
aflcr establish Charity Schools within the said city, who may 
a}ipl_y for the same." '.Phe distribution was to be in propor- 
tion to tlie average number of children tauglit between the 
ages of four and fifteen years, but was to be paid to no so- 
ciety whose school had not been kept for nine months in the 
previous year. The children were to bo taught free of ex- 
pense. 'V\)c Trustees of the several schools were to make to 
the School Commissioners reports similar to those of the Trus- 
tees of Common Schools, and the Seliool Commissioners to the 
Su})erintendent of Common Schools. The public money was 
to be api)lied to the payment of teachers' wages. The Trus- 
tees of the several societies were declared inspectors of the 
schools of their respective societies. 

An act respecting the Free School Society of New York. 
Passed Ajiril 5, 1817. Scss. Laws, p. 150. Granted $2000 
out of the Excise Fund. 

An act to incorporate the ITamilton Free School (New 
York), and for otlier jnirposes. Passed April 17, 1818. Sess. 
Ijaws, p. 103. The fourth section gives the Trustees of this 
school a share in the distribution of the Common School 
moneys. 

An act relative to the eom\non lands o[ (lie freeholders 
and inhabitants of Harlem. Passed March 28, 1820. Sess. 
Laws, p. 00. l^ireets the lands to be sold by trustees ; $3000 
to be paid to the Harlem Library; $3500 to the Hamilton 
School; $1000 to tlu^ Harlem ScJiool; $-1500 to Manhattan- 
ville School ; and, until such schools are establislied, the funds 
are to remain in trust in the Iwinds of the TrusteeSj and placed 
on good interest. 

An act rehitive to the lloman Catholic Penevolent Society 
in the city of New York. Passed Ajiril 1, 1820. Sess. Laws, 
p. 117. Requires the Commissioners of Common School Fund 



LAWS RELATIVE TO PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 207 

in the city to allow and pay to the Trustees of the Society their 
proportion of the Common School money. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An Act relative to the 
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the city of 
New York," passed April 3, 1811. Passed January 20, 
1821. Sess. Laws, p. 10. Permits the school of said Society 
to share in the distribution of the school moneys. Society was 
founded in 1784. 

An act relating to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed November 19, 1824. Sess. Laws, p. 337. 
Provides for the apportionment of school moneys to the city, 
and for the election of ten commissioners to distribute it ; pre- 
scribes their duties as to making reports and visiting the 
schools, and repeals all former laws relating to the schools of 
the city. 

An act incorporating the New York Iligh School — exact 
title and date not known. The school was a pay school, and 
on the Lancastcrian plan. 

An act in relation to the Free School Society of New York. 
Passed January 28, 1820. Sess. Laws, p. 19. Name altered 
to "Public School Society of New York." The Society was 
also required to provide for the education of all children with- 
out regard to the sect or denomination to which their parents 
might belong. The Trustees were, by Section 3, permitted to 
charge a " moderate compensation adapted to the abilities of 
the parents of the children." 

An act to amend the act relating to Common Schools in 
the city of New York, passed November 19, 1824. Passed 
April 8, 1820. Sess. Ijaws, p. 93. Increases the number of 
School Commissioners to twelve. 

An act to provide for the building an Asylum for the Deaf 
and Dumb in the city of New York. PassedMarch 23, 1827. 
Sess. Laws, p. 70. Section 1 appropriated $10,000 for pur- 
chase of land and erection of buildings, provided the institu- 
tion should raise an equal sum. The Secretary of State was 
to approve the site. By Section 2, the institution was placed 
under the supervision of the Superintendent of Common 



20y * IIIS'I'OKV (.)K riUiMO lODUCATlON. 

Schools, unci the directors were to lilo ilioir consent under 
their corporjxto seal in the ofliee of the Secretary ol' State. 

An act to incorporate the Manhattanvillc Free School in 
the Twelllh Ward in the city of New York. Passed March 
30, IS'27. Sess. Laws, p. 10.'), This was essentially a Public 
and District School. Tlie Trustees were annually elected by 
tlu' freeholders of the village of ]\laidiattanville. To receive 
12500 iVoni Trustees of Harlem i'uni.1. 

An act to incorporate the 'J^-ustces of tho Ilarlcm Sehool 
in (lie Twelfth Ward of the city of New York. Passed April 
2, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 1 10. A Public School, the Trustees 
to bo annually elected by a voto of tho freeholders of the vil- 
lage of Harlem. '1\) receive $1000 from Trustees of tho Har- 
lem fund. 

An act to incorporate the Trustees of the Yorkville School 
in the Twelfth Ward of the city of New York. Passed April 
2, 1827. Sess. Laws, p. 111-. This was also essentially a 
Public Scliool, of which the Trustees were elected by the free- 
holders of tho village of Yorkville. To receive $2000 from 
Trustees of Harlem fund. 

An act further to amend an act entitled " An Act to incor- 
poVato the Trustees of the First Protestant Episcopal Charity 
School in tho city of New York." Passed April 11, 1827. 
Sess. Laws, p. 315. Authorizes an increase of the number 
of schools and the number of trustees. 

An act relative to deeds and mortgages executed or to be 
executed by the Public Sehool Society of New York. Pixssed 
January 20, 1820. Grants the right to sell and convey real 
estate, and to mortgage and confirm all former sales and 
grants. 

An act for the further support and extension of Common 
Schools in tho x;ity of New York. Passed April 26, 1829. 
Sess. Laws, p. 307. Authorizes the increase o[' the city 
school tax onc-cightieth of one per cent. 

An act for tho further support and extension of Common 
Schools in the city of New York. Passed April 13, 1831. 
Sess. Laws, \\ 101. Authorizes a tax of three-eighths of one 



LAWS HELATIVK TO I'UULIC INSTUUCTION. 209 

per cent, on tlie valuation of tLo taxable property of the city 
for the purposes of Common Schools in the city. It is to be 
apportioned as provided in the Itcvised Statutes, Article 7, 
Chapter 15, Sections 117 to 127. ^ 

An act relative to the school connected with the Alms- 
house of the city of New York. J*assed April 13, 1835. 
Sess. Laws, p. 54. Declares school entitled to its share of 
public moneys in any ai)j)ortionment by School Commission- 
ers, and places the school in charge of the l^iblic School So- 
ciety. 

An act to extend to the city and county of New York the 
provisions of the general act in rclati(;n to Common Schools. 
Passed April 11, 1842. Sess. Laws, p. 184. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An Act to extend to the 
city and county of New York the provisions of the g(;ncral 
act in relation to Common Schools," passed April 11, 1842. 
Pas.sed April 18, 1843. Sess. Laws, p. 290. 

An act to amend the charter of the Public School Society 
of the city of New York. Passed March 23, 1844. Sess. 
Laws, p. 50. 

An act more efTectually to provide for Common School 
education in the city and county of New York. Passed May 
7,1844. Sess. Laws, p. -190. 

An act authorizing the Board of Education of the city of 
New York to establish a Free Academy. Passed May 7, 
1847. 

An act to authorize the Board of Education of the city of 
New York to establish Evening l^Vee Schools for the educa- 
tion of apprentices and others. J*assed April 16, 1847. Sess. 
Laws, p. 82. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An Act more effectually 
to provide for Common School Education in the city of New 
York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed May 11, 1847. Ses.«?. 
Laws, p. 275. 

An act to incorporate the New York Society for the pro- 
motion of cducatfon among colored children. Pa.ssed De- 
cember 7, 1847. Sess. Laws, p. 425. 





210 HISTORY OF rUBLiO EDUCATION. 

An act in relation to tlic Public School Society in the city 
of New York. Passed March 4, 18-18. Sess. Laws, p. 81. 

An act to amend an act entitled "An Act to extend to the 
city and county oftNew York the provisions of the general 
act in relation to Conunon Schools," passed April 11, 18-12. 
Passed ]\rarch 21, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 147. 

An act to authorize the Board of Education of the city of 
New York to establish Evening Schools for the education of 
apprentices and others. Passed March 25, 1848. Sess. Laws, 
p. 209. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An Act more effectually 
to provide for Common School education in the city and 
county of New York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed March 
27, 1848. Sess. Laws, p. 211. ' 

An act to amend an act entitled " An Act more ellectually 
to provide for Common School education in the city and 
county of New York," passed May 7, 1844. Passed May 
11, 1840. Sess. Laws, p. 649. 

An act to amend the charter of the Manhattanville Free 
School in the city of New York. Passed March 27, 1850. 
Sess. Laws, p. 147. Authorized to convey their real es- 
tate and iniprovomonts to the cit}'. Became a Grannnar 
School. 

An act to amend, consolidate, and reduce to one act the 
various acts relative to Common Schools of the cit}'- of New 
York. Passed July 8, 1851. Sess. Laws, p. 734. 

An act in relation to the school oflicers of the Twentieth 
Ward of the city of New York. Passed ^Fareh 26, 1852. 
Sess. Laws, p. 130. Permits them to enter upon the duties 
of their office as soon as they take the oath of office required 
by law. 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed June 4, 1853. Sess. Laws, p. 629. Author- 
izes the Public School Society to transfer all its property 
and schools to the city. 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed March 31, 1854. Sess. Laws, p. 235. 



LAWS ]IELATIVJ'; TO J'UJMJC INSTKUG'J'ION. 211 

An act relative to Common Scliools in tlic city of New 
York. Passed April 15, 1854 Sess. Laws, }). 588. 

An act to enable the schools of the Five Points House of 
Industry, and the school established by the Ladies' IJomc 
Missionary Society, to participate in the distribution of the 
Comm'on School Fund. Passed Ajjril 12, 1855. Sess. Laws, 
p. 701. 

An act to provide for the appointment of a commission 
to secure the more perfect establishment, government, reg- 
ulation, and economy of Common Schools in the city of 
New York. Passed April 17, 1857. Sess. Laws, vol. 2, p. 
528. 

An act to continue the commission appointed to secure 
tlic more perfect establishment, government, n^gulation, and 
economy of Common Schools in the city of New York'. Pass- 
ed April 14, 1858. Sess. Laws, p. 318. 

An act in relation to school libraries in the cily of New 
York, passed Ai)ril 13, 1860. Sess. Laws, j). 020. 

An act to repeal an act passed April 10, 1800, entitled 
" An Act in relation to school libraries in tlic city of New 
York," passed April 13, 1800. Passed April 15, 1861. Sess. 
Laws, p. 194. 

An act to enable the schools of the Children's Aid Society 
to participate in the distribution of the Common School Fund. 
Passed April 17, 1802. Sess. Laws, p. 455. 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed April 15, 1803. Sess. Laws, p. 103." 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed April 25, 1804. Sess. Laws, p. 822. 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of New 
York. Passed March 3, 1865. Sess. Laws, p. 94. 

An act to erect the " Free Academy of the city of New 
York " into a College. Passed March 30, 1866. 

An act to amend an act entitled " An Act to amend, con- 
solidate, and reduce to one act the various acts relative to 
Common Schools of the city of New York," passed July 3, 
1851. Passed April 2, 1866. Sess. Laws, p. 748. 



212 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

An Act in relation to the College of tlie city of New 
York. Passed April 17, 1866. 

An act relative to Common Schools in the city of ISTew 
York. Passed April 9, 1867. Sess. Laws, vol. 1, p. 540. 

GENERAL ACTS AFFECTING SCHOOLS IN THE CITY 
OF NEW YORK. 

An act for the encouragement of schools. Passed April 
9, 1795. Sess. Laws (Greenleaf) vol. 8, p. 248. -This was the 
first general school law passed in this state. It provided that 
there should be appropriated from the treasury $50,000 a 
year for five years, " for the purpose of encouraging and 
maintaining schools in the several cities and towns in this 
state, in which the children of the inhabitants residing in the 
state shall be instructed in the English language, or be taught 
English grammer, arithmetic, mathematics, and such other 
branches of knowledge as are most useful and necessary to 
complete a good English education." The first apportion- 
ment was made by the law, according to the representation 
of the counties in the Assembly ; but it was provided that 
future apportionments should be made " in proportion to the 
number of electors for members of Assembly in each' county." 
The Boards of Supervisors were required to apportion the 
money among the several towns according to the number of 
taxable inhabitants, as they should appear from the tax lists 
annually returned to them by the assessors. The Boards of 
Supervisors in the several counties in the state were also re- 
quired to raise by tax a sum equal to the amount apportioned 
from the state treasury, except that the city of Albany was 
to raise a tax for only half the amount. In the city of New 
York the money was to be used for the support of Charity 
Schools, and all other schools, such as mentioned above, 
" whether the children taught in such Charity Schools shall 
be children of white parents, or descended from Africans and 
Indians." The inhabitants of the towns were required to elect 
not less than three nor more than seven persons to be Com- 
missioners of Schools, to have the distribution of the money 



ACTS AFFECTINa NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS. 213 

and the superintendence of the schools. The cities of Albany 
and Hudson, for the purposes of the act, were declared to be 
towns. The inhabitants of the towns were authorized to elect 
Trustees, and to associate together for the purpose of hiring 
school-masters and organizing schools. The Trustees were 
required to make, on the third Tuesday in March in each 
year, a return of the school kept in their charge, containing 
the name of the master or masters, the number of days he or 
they had taught, the names of the scholars instructed, and the 
number of days they have severally attended the school, and 
the time or times within which the school has been kept. 
The Commissioners were " to collect into one sura the whole 
number of days for which each and every scholar, that may 
have attended any one of the said schools, shall have been in- 
structed therein, and to apportion the moneys allotted to and 
raised in that town for the purpose aforesaid, according to the 
whole number of days for which instruction shall appear to 
have been given in said schools, in such manner that the school 
in which the greater number of days of instruction shall appear 
to have been given shall have a proportionably larger sum." 
The money was paid to the Trustees by an order drawn by the 
Commissioners on the County Treasurer. The Commissioners 
were required to make to the County Treasurer an annual re- 
port of the condition of the schools, and the County Treasurer 
was required to transmit the same to the Secretary of State. 

An act farther to amend an act entitled "An Act for the 

• 

encouragement of schools." Passed March 10, 1797. Sess. 
Laws (Greenleaf 's ed.), vol. 8, p. 397. Ordered, that in the city 
of New York one-sixth part of the public money should be 
apportioned to the Charity Schools, and the other five-sixths 
" among the schools which in any wards in the city may be 
established and conducted in conformity to the said a<!t." 
The inhabitants of the city were also granted the same rights, 
powers, and privileges as were granted the inhabitants resid- 
ing in any parts of any towns in the state. It was also pro- 
vided that no school in the state should receive any more 
money in any one year than should be required to pay the 



214 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

master or masters for the same year. The apportionment 
was made for the years 1790, 171)7, 1798, but was omitted 
for the years 1799 and 1800. An abstract of the returns for 
the year 1 798 from sixteen of the twenty-three counties shows 
a total (if 13J32 schools organized according to the act, in 
which r)9,()00 chiklren were taught. 

All act to raise a fund for the encouragement of Common 
Schools. Passed April 2, 1805. Sess. Laws (Webster & 
Skinner's ed.), vol. 4, p. 120. Ajipropriates the net proceeds 
of 500,000 acres of land first sold after the passage of the act, 
to be a permanent fund for the support of Common Schools. 
No distribution of the income was to be made until the in- 
terest should amount to $50,000 annually. This act laid the 
foundation of the Common School Fund. 

m 

An act for the establishment of Common Schools. Passed 
June 19, 1812. Sess. Laws (Webster & Skinner's cd.), p. GOO. 
This was the first law for the organization of Common 
Schools. It-was repealed in 1814, and superseded by an 
amended act. liopealed and revised in 1819. The revisers, 
whose work is known as the Ecviscd Statutes, framed a new 
statute which took effect January 1, 1828, and which repeal- 
ed all general laws on the subject of a previous date. 

An act to appropriate the income of the United States De- 
posit Fund to the jnirposes of education and the dif[\ision of 
knowledge. Passed April 17, 1838. Sess. Laws, p. 220. 
The second section ajiprojtriatos $110,000 annually for the 
support of Connnon Schools. The fourth section appropriates 
$55,000 annually to the purchase of books for school libraries. 
These appropriations have been annually made since the pas- 
sage of the law. The' surplus revenue has been bestowed 
upon colleges, academies, and literary institutions. 

•An act establishing Free Schools throughout the state. 
Passed March 20, 1849. Sess. Laws, p. 683. Submitted to 
the people, and ratified by large majorities in every county. 
^Majority in the city of New York, 19,739. 

An act submitting to the people at the next annual elec- 
tion the question of the repeal of the act establishing Free 



ACTS AFFECTING- NEW YORK Cl'l'Y SCHOOLS. 215 

Schools tbrougliout the state. Passed April 15, 1830. Scss. 
Laws, p. 804. Majority against repeal in the entire state 
was about 25,000. The system was saved by the cities, and 
particularly by New York City and County, which gave a 
majority ol' 37,827 against rci^eal. 

An act to provide for the care and instruction of idle and 
truant children. Passed April 12, 1853.- Scss. Laws, p. 358. 

An act creating the office of State Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction. Passed March 30, 1854. Scss. Laws, \). 230. 
Created the Department of Public Instruction, and transferred 
to it the Superintendence of the Common Schools. ''1^1 ic Sec- 
retary of State had been ex officio Superintendent from Api'il 
3, 1821, to April 8, 1854. There had been a State Superin- 
tendent from January 14, 1813, to April 3, 1821, when the 
office was abolished. 



XIX. 

ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL CENSUS OF THE CITY OF 
NEW YORK, 18G7. 

In November, 18G7, the Clerk of the Board of Education, 
by means of circular letters and other agencies, instituted a 
series of special inquiries into the educational history and 
statistics of the city of New York, and its schools, public, pri- 
vate, and denominational. Besides the general and prompt 
response afforded by principals, trustees, and other officers, 
valuable assistance was obtained from Superintendent Ken- 
nedy, of the Metropolitan Police. 

The inquiries embraced, among others, the following par- 
ticulars : 

The name and location of each school. 

How supported. 

The whole number of pupils taught during the year end- 
ing October 1, 1867. 

Their ages, sex, color, and nativity. 

The number of teachers employed, both male and female, 
and the number of years' experience in teaching. 

The course of study. 

The number of weeks the school has been opened, and the 
length of the daily session. 

The average annual cost per pupil. 

The number of volumes in the school library. 

The approximate value of philosophical apparatus and of 
real estate. 

Such other information, historical or statistical, as could 
be furnished. 

These statistics relate to no less than 584 schools, and their 
collection and subsequent reduction to proper form involved 
much labor. 



ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL CENSUS. 217 

It is to be regretted that to many of these inquiries the 
replies were not sufficiently general or definite to allow their 
presentation in tabular form. Yet all the more important 
points have been covered, and the results are very valua- 
ble. 

The total expense of each school has been found by multi- 
plying the whole number taught by the reported average an- 
nual expense per pupil. The result may be somewhat in ex- 
cess of the true amount, but is believed to be substantially 
correct. 

Some apparent discrepancies in the statistics of the Public 
Schools are removed when it is remembered that the annual 
reports close with the 31st of December, while this special re- 
port includes the interval of one year ending October 1, 1867. 

WHOLE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS. 

Under control of the Board of Education 219 

Corporate Schools partly controlled by the Board 36 

All other schools.- 329 



Total 584 

PUPILS — HOW DISTRIBUTED. 

Whole number reported taught in Schools of the Board. 224,410 
" " " " all other schools 45,787 



Total reported taught during the year 270,203 

Among these there were : 

In the Corporate Schools of the Board 10,567 

In other Corporate Schools 5,213 

Denominational Schools 31,490 

In Private Schools of all kinds 27,058 

In Day Schools 250,493 

In Evening Schools 19,710 

COLOR. 

White pupils 207,770 

Colored pupils 2,433 

AGES. 

Under 12 years of age 71 per cent 191,844 

12 years of age, or over 29 per cent 78,359 

SEX. 

Male pupils 54 per cent 145,909 

Eemale pupils 40 per cent 124,294 



218 lllSTOitV OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

The nativity of the pupils of the Day Schools of the Board 
only is given ; in the private and other schools it could not 
be ascertained : 

NATIVITY. 

15orii in llic United States 90] percent. 

" Gcriniiiiy ;i,^ " 

" Grout Britiiiii luid lichuid 4^ " 

" Friincc J " 

Born clscwiicrc l" " 

This statement docs not properly indicate the nativity of 
the parents ; a matter somewhat difficult to obtain, especially 
in the Primary Schools and Departments. In a Grammar 
School situated in the midst of a large German population 
recent inquiry showed that in the seven classes of one depart- 
ment the German parentage alone varied from fifty to eighty 
per cent. In other sections of the city other nationalities pre- 
dominate; but in most instances, as the table above given 
would suggest, Amei'ican parentage is most largely repre- 
sented. 

ATTENDANCE. 

The following tabic exhibits the average attendance and 
the whole miiiibcr taught in the several classes of schools 
under the su])er vision of the Board. The large proportion 
of pupils in the Primary Schools and Departments, when 
taken in connection with the course of study and the report- 
ed ages of jiupils, throws much light upon the condition of a 
large part of those children who are the chief subject of the 
article on the "Vagrant Question." 

AvicKAfiK Wnoi.n No. 

A'i"rnNi>ANoi.;. Taucht. 

Miilo Crnmmnr Schools ir.,:?!)'.' ;{I,l;i.S 

Foinnlc Griumniir Scliools i:{,L'(;t 27,114 

I'rinnirv Schools iind Dcpiutinonls .'")2, T.tS I'.'O/JOO 

(Jolorcd Si'iiools 702 1,887 

Normal Schools 40(; 1,000 



Total for I'lililic Dny Scliools .Sl,!l(;2 .li)l, ;?;{!» 

Corporate Schools of the IJoard (),071 1G,5(J7 



Total forDiiy Schools 88,0;5« 207,!)OG 

Evcninf; Scliools of ilic 15oard— Males 4,71G) „ ,„f,... 11,877^ ,,. rin 

Females... 2, 7(i;i) ''^'' ... 4,(;;5;5) " '"''"' 

Total for all schools of the Board 1)5,515 224,41(5 



ABSTllACT OF SCHOOL CENSUS. 219 

TEACHERS. 

Males. Females. 

In the Schools of tlic Board 3G0 2,044 

In all other schools 901 717 



Total number of Teachers 4,022 ],2(;i 2,702 

COST. 

Cost of 224,41.5 pupils in Schools of the Board $2,9rj0,000 

45,787 " other schools 2,101,232 



(1 



" 270,203 " all schools .f.-i, 0.5 1,232 

111 this estimate tlie total cost of tlic Public Schools in- 
cludes a large sum for the necessary new buildings, repairs, 
supplies, etc., while in the case of the private schools the cost 
of tuition only is given. 

The following is the cost of tuition of pupils and care of 
the buildings in the schools of the Board : 

Salaries of Teachers in Ward Schools $1,497,180 88 

" Janitors " 7.5,080 29 

" Teachers and Janitors in Evening 

Schools 87,191 97 

Salaries of Teachers aiiw Tanitors in Colored 

Schools 30,150 2G 

Salaries of Teachers and Janitors in Normal 

Schools 7,005 02 



Total !|1, 097,815 02 

Gas and fuel for Ward and Evening Schools 83,024 03 



Total for tuition, gas, and fuel $ 1 , 780, 8.')9 05 

Books, maps, stationery, etc., for all schools .$184,370 24 

The total cost of the sites, buildings, and appurtenances at 
present under the control of the Board of Education has been 
a little short of $5,000,000. The present estimated value 
of this property is at least double that amount, or nearly 
$8,000,000. Several valuable pieces of property no longer 
needed for school purposes have been transferred, as by law 
provided, to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. These 
are not credited to the Board of Education as an offset to ex- 
penses. 

The amount apportioned to each of the following schools 
is based upon the average attendance of the last year. This 
is the case with all schools participating. 



220 



HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 



COKPOKATE SCHOOLS TINDER SUPERVISION OF THE BOARD. 



SCUOOLS. 



New York Orphan Asylum 

Roman Catholic Orjilian Asylum — 

Male Department 

Female ])o])annient 

Protestant Half-orphan Asylum.... 

House of Refuj:^e 

Leake and Watts Orphan House — 

Male Department 

Female Department 

Colored Orphan Asylum 

American Female Guardian So-) 

ciety and' Home Industrial ,- 

School y 

New York Juvenile Asylum 

House of Reception of do 

Ladies' Home Missionary Society. 

Five Points House of Industry 

Children's Aid Society 

Nursery and Child's Hospital 



Total. 






50G 

(48,5 

■(484 

r>7() 

512 

(222 

"(4(JG 

505 

452 

574 
514 

454 
510 

5,483* 
510 



a 

< 

u 

< 



171 



354 

145 

1,091 



55 

39 

213 

920 

G03 
12G 
352 
413 
1,051 
08 



o a 
^1 



G,074 



184 

559| 
397) 
310 
1,720 

741 

2G4 

4,130 

1,1.36 
1,028 
1,834 
1,095 
3,702 
82 



Amount 
ArroKTiONED. 



1)1,151 28 



5,7G3 78 

1,G01 4G 

7,512 84 



804 42 
1,490 7G 

5,011 02 

4,295 IG 
922 50 
2,022 12 
2^G27 28 
G,900 30 
3G9 00 



16,5G7 



140,471 92 



Among the scLools not known as Public Schools there are 
the following : 



Denominations. 



Catholic Free Schools 

Catholic Pay Schools 

Protestant Episcopal Clunrh 

Other Protestant Denominations. 

Children's Aid Society 

N. Y. Female Guardian Society... 
Hebrew Schools, including Or- ) 

phan Asylum ( 

German Schools, Free and Pri 

vate 

Asylums not above given • 

Colleges and Corporate Schools ) 

for Adults 5 

Other Private Schools 



s 

o 
o 
a 
o 

02 


(d H 

>j a 

< O 

ST < 


Female 
Teachers. 


PUPILB. 


23 


50 


91 


16,342 


24 


9G 


95 


6,070 


24 


29 


28 


2,367 


22 


38 


25 


5,713 


13 


3 


26 


3,702 


7 


... 


16 


4,130 


12 


24 


8 


998 


25 


80 


33 


3,641 


7 


25 


51 


3,267 


8 


134 


11 


5,133 


1G8 


407 


323 


11,875 



IlEPOltTSD 

Cost. 



^142,909 
170,976 
50,515 
27,980 
18,510 
48,527 

35,323 

102,383 
368,000 
308,000 
757,000 



In this case the ngsrcgato of the tliirtecn schools of the Society is given. 



ABSTEACT OF SCHOOL CENSUS. 



221 



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222 HISTOKY OF PUBLIC EDUCATIOX. 



XX. 

lilEMORANDA— CHRONOLOGICALLY AEEANGED. 

From 1C14 to the Establishment of the Board of Education, 1S42. 

1614:. New Amsterdam settled. 

1633. Adam Roelandsen the first New York school-master. 

1642. First cflbrts to build a school-house. 

1659. Luyck's Latin School established. 

1661. Evart Pietersen, sixth school-master, and last before the English occu- 
pation. 

1696. "William III. grants to ministers and Consistory of tlie Dutch Church 
the right to appoint the school-master. 

1702. Free Grammar School founded, and built on the King's Farm. 

1 704. "William Yesey, Ei)iscopal missionary, oi)ens a school for blacks. 

1705. Lord Cornbury claims the right of appointing the school-masters. 
1710. "William Iluddlestone, first master of Trinity School. 

1732. First Free School for teaching Latin, Greek, and mathematics, estab- 
lished by law — Principal, Alex. IMalcolm, gets ^£40 a year. 

1754. King's — now Columbia College — founded. 

1755. Nicholas "Whelp, school-master, imported from Holland. 
1764. Dutch Church has services in the English tongue. 

1773. English language taught in the Dutch School. 

1776. Schools closed by the war. 

1783. Dutch Church School reopens in September. 

1784. First receives the name of Charity School. 

1785. ^Manumission Society founded. 
1787. Its first school opened in Cliff Street. 

1795. Clinton, in his message, recommends the cstablisliment of Common 
Schools throughout the state. 
Act appropriating S5*50,000 a year for five years. 
1798. Teachers' Association — John \Yoods, President. 
1802. Female Association established. 

1805. One hundred and forty-one teachers in the city. 
Act establishing the Common School Fund. 
Act incorporating the Free School Society. 

De Witt Clinton, first President of the Society. 

Prof. John Griscom gives the first coarse of popular lectures on physical 
science ever given in New York. 

1806. New York Orphan Asylum founded. 
Free School No. 1 opened. 



MEMORANDA. 22-3 

1807. College of Physicians and Surgeons chartered. 

1808. New charter of Free School Society. 

1809. No. 1 reopened in Tryon Kow — permanent location. 

1811. No. 2 opened in Henry Street on ground given by Col. Rutgers. 
Trinity Church gives site for No. 3 in Christopher — now Grove Street. 

1812. Fifty ladies instruct Free School pupils in various catechisms. 
Act establishing Common Schools throughout the state, June 19. 

1813. Act apportioning the school moneys, where distributed, among the 

scliools of the city. 

1814. First ofBcial record of pupils, preparatory to the 

1815. First distribution of the income of the School Fund. 

1817. Committee "to procure from England a teacher completely competent 

to teach the Lancasterian system." 
Rewards and punishments by tickets of nominal value of one-eighth 

of a cent; prizes exhibited in glass cases, and labeled with ticket 

values. 
Act passed permitting Society to expend surplus money on building new 

schools. 

1818. Geo. T. Trimble elected a member, May 1. 

No. 3 opened in the village of Greenwich, under Shcpard Johnson. 

Resolution that No. 4 shall be so built as to allow the separate instruc- 
tion of girls. 

Teacher Picton arrives from England. 

Teachers ordered to institute special classes between G and 8 a.m. 
during four months each year for monitors and "high scholars" — 
abolished in less than a year. 

Picton organizes St. Peter's School in Barclay Street on the Lancas- 
terian plan. 

Dec. 14, Lancaster in New York. 

Fifty dollars' worth of books on history, voyages, and travels, for each 
school. 

First Manual completed by teachers. 

1819. Among the estimates arc, salaries, $3G00 ; three monitors' board, $550 ; 

their clothes, $300 ; rewards and prizes, f 300. 
Memorial to Legislature for $10,000, Jan. 19; get $5000. 
Resolution that pupils shall repeat passages from tracts against use of 

ardent spirits. 
Simultaneous examination of schools abandoned. 
Death of John Murray, Jr., Vice-president, and one of the three 

originators of the Society. 

1820. First vacation of three weeks in August. 

Apprenticed monitors of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 too expensive; will average 
$200 a year ; monitors in No. 4 cost only fifty cents a week. 

"Resolved, that the three monitors be continued at $100 a year each 
until they can find other situations ;" they are advertised as disposable 
in the New York and the Albany papers. 



224 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

1821. MofRt and Sommcrfich], of England, 'visit the schools. 

Regular correspondence maintained with British, and Foreign School 
Society, who continue as from 1805 to supply slates and other school 
material. 

2000 copies of " Universal Non-sectarian Catechism " purchased. 

Scripture lessons adopted. 

1822. Lots purchased, and preparation made to build No. 5. 

Bethel Free School complains that No. 5 will interfere with them. 
Remonstrance to Legislature as to extra privileges granted to Betliel 
School. 

Register number, 2873, only one-third of them girls; Female Associa- 
tion has 7G0 girls ; African Schools, G'SO pupils. 

Proposition to have some of the oldest and most meritorious pupils 
tauglit grammar, geography, history, and mathematics. 

Schools closed on account of the yellow fever. 

1 823. Punishment with the rod abolished, Jan. 7 ; " After every persuasion has 

failed, a small leathern strap may be applied to the palm of the hand ; 

and, if this also fails, the delinquent may be discharged by the Visiting 

Committee and ' by proclamation ; ' " that is, a monilor visits each class 

in turn and proclaims that A B is " turned out of school '' 

for such and such an offense, or it is done before the assembled 

school. 
March 1, Protest from No. 1 in relation to the strap; "palm of hand" 

amended to read "hand," and Committee of Supplies directed " to 

procure suitable straps for all the schools," male and female. 
Teachers of No. 1 and 3 reported to have announced the strap order in 

a very improper manner ; investigation ordered ; report exonerates 

them. 
Girls admitted to No. 1, and placed in separate drafts. 
May 1, Picton of No. 4 protests against the strap order. 
June 1, " Sections " appointed to each school ; strap order repealed, and 

ratan reinstated. 
Committee on Rewards and Punishments report advising a limited 

use of the rod, but that the chief dependence be upon rewards; $150 

to be spent in " jjrizes " for this purpose. 
Proposition from "middle-class citizens to be allowed to send their 

children for pay." 
Freemasons and Fire Department have paid to date $3275 for the 

tuition of 200 poor children. 

1824. No. G opened at Bellevue ; Johnson and several monitors assist to or- 

ganize. 

Samuel W. Seton elected a member, and assigned to No. 3 ; makes " a 
very animated and appropriate speech to the children," and becomes 
chief annual speaker for 25 or 30 years. 

Four hundred tickets for Scuddcr's Museum are presented by the Wid- 
ow Scuddcr and her son ; they are elected members of the Society ; the 



MEMORANDA. 225 

tickets are given out to pupils as "prizes" to one in forty-five of the 
weekly attendance ; they last for two or three years ; a committee 
accompany the pupils to the Museum. 

School Fund gives $7211. 

New York Athcneum founded, " for the Encouragement of Popular Sci- 
ence and the Liberal Arts." 

La Fayette visits No. 3 in October ; grand parade and review of school 
children in the Park. 

Whole number attending Free and Charity Schools during the year, 
10,383 ; Free Schools, 6976. 

Incorporation of New York High School Society ; school to be on the 
Lancasterian plan ; charter to expire in 15 years. 

1825. High School for males opened in Crosby Street, near Broome, Dr. Jolin 

Griscom and D. H. Barnes, Principals, with 200 pupils ; 680 present 
in 1827, and 70 to 80 waiting for room; Introductory Department, 
$3; Junior, $5; Senior, $7 per quarter, fuel and stationery extra; 
70 classical pupils ; " mutual instruction in all branches ;" disastrous 
eifects upon many private schools ; two Free School principals enter 
as tutors. 
Borland and Forrest, 45 Warren Street, have 80 classical students. 

1826. New charter, and new title — Public School Society. 
Pay system goes into operation. 

Feb. 1, High School for Girls opened in Crosby Street, near Spring ; 
terms, $3, $5, $7 per quarter; Junior Course includes "plain sew- 
ing, marking and cutting, and making of female dresses." 

Establishment of the Executive Committee of Public School Society. 

Disastrous working of the pay system. 

Two permanent monitors appointed to each department. 

Very large script alphabet first painted on the front walls of school- 
rooms in Nos. 5 and 7 ; then of Nos. 3 and 8. 

1827. Infant School Society ; Mrs. Beth une. First Directress. 

No. 10 opened in Duane Street — Junior Department instituted. 

1828. S. W. Seton appointed General Inspector of Schools and Visitor of Par- 

ents. 

Death of De Witt Clinton, Feb. 11, at Albany. 

March 4, Samuel Demilt elected a member of the Board of Trustees ; 
he was for many years a leading spirit in the government of the So- 
ciety ; member of Executive Committee, May, 1830 ; chairman of the 
Committee on Teachers till his death, May, 1845. 

Abolition of tickets ; Certificates of Merit soon after substituted ; tick- 
ets had been given for sundry monitorial, police, and sanitary du- 
ties, and forfeited as fines for various off'enses ; $25 worth of books, 
penknives, scissors, toys, etc., had been given annually to each de- 
partment ; sold quarterly in school at auction for tickets ; pupils 
often played in street till late, because "able to pay ;" very worst 
boys often had most tickets, and purcliased all tlie most valuable 

p «• 



226 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCA.TION. 

prizes ; tickets often bought from boys of other schools ; system fic- 

quently led to violence and dishonesty. 
Colonel Henry Rutgers, second President. 
No. 11, in Wooster Street, opened Oct. 27. 

1829. Legislature gives power to mortgage ; r>()00 citizen tax-payers memorial- 

i/e for a tax ; passed law for tax of one-eightieth of one per cent. 
School census of city taken. 
Mr. Seton takes charge of the Depository, in addition to his other 

duties. 
Female Association opens an Infant School in basement of No. 5. 
Rutgers dies ; Peter A. Jay, third President. 

1830. Slates still imported from London. 

1S31. No. 13 opened in Scvcnteentli Street Jan. 1, burned to the ground on 
the Cth. 

Primary Departments established. 

Additional tax of three-eightieths of one per cent. 

Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum admitted to participate in school mon- 
eys. ' 

John Delamatcr elected trustee, and assigned to No. 3, Aug. 5. 

Special Committee, Mr. Trimble chairman, "appointed to re-examine 
Boys' Departments Nos. 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9, with power to invite the 
principals thereof — one or all — to resign ;" three lose their places. 

1832. Pay system finally abolished. 

Male High School building sold to Mechanics' Society. 

Committee visit Boston ; result, establishment of the small Primary 

Schools. 
Common Council, by special ordinance, deny aid to poor families who 

neglect to send their children to school 5 ordinance posted throughout 

the city. 
Cholera closes the schools ; No. 4 a hospital. 
Temporary school out of town at Sailors' Snug Harbor — Broadway and 

Eighth Street. 
Manumission Society appoint a committee of conference for a transfer 

of their schools. 

1833. Extension of course of instruction ia upper departments ; appointment 

of assistants. 

Mr. Seton appointed agent — really a superintendent under another 
name, and keeper of Depository ; total salary, $800. 

Term Monitorial substituted for Lancastcrian in the bj'-laws. 

Evening Schools established, and the teachers of the Day Schools com- 
pelled to servo without additional pay. 

First annual examination of Primary Schools began April 9. 

Principals' salaries increased — Male Department, to $1000 ; Female 
Department, to $400. 

No. 13 opened in May ; No. 14 in November. 

1834. Transfer of schools of Manumission Socictv, May 2. 



MEMORANDA. 227 

183-i. Public School Society have 49 principals, 28 assistants, 75 monitors; 

total salaries, $3G,G50. 
Adoption of special report of Satnuel Demilt, Chairman of Committee 

on Teachers and Monitors, advising a school for monitors ; it finally 

becomes the Saturday Normal School August 1. 
Teachers' Library established. 
House of Refuge School, Colored School in Allen Street, and Colored 

School of Five Points apply for adoption by the Public School Society 

— applications refused. 

1835. No. G, the Almshouse School, removed to Long Island Farms ; being out 

of the county, the Public School Society retain control by special 
act. 
Male assistants ask increase of their salary from i||i500 a year to fiCOO — 
application denied; Committee on Teachers and Monitors acknowl- 
edge in their report that it is a rather low salary for such acquire- 
ments, but think that the possibility of some day becoming principal at 
$1000 is sullicient additional inducement. 

1836. The African Schools have, since the transfer, "greatly diminished in 

numbers, efficiency, and usefulness ;" committee appointed to investi- 
gate ; final re])ort ; one cause, the great " unti-slavery riots " and at- 
tacks upon colored population ; many families had removed from the 
city ; many children kept at home ; they knew the Manumission 
Society as their special friends; knew nothing of the Public School 
Society ; reduction of all Colored Schools but one to the rank of 
Primary had given great onensc ; also the discharge of teachers who 
had been long employed, and discontinuance of rewards and of taking 
home spelling-iwoks ; strong prejudices had grown up against the 
Public School Society ; committee recommend a prompt assimilation 
of the Colored Schools to the white ; the establishment of two more 
upper schools in a new building 5 a Normal School for colored moni- 
tors, and the appointment of a colored man as agent at if; 150. 

Death of Lloyd 1). Windsor, Assistant Secretary of the Society, and for 
25 years Principal of No. 1, August 5, 183G; he was very highly 
esteemed. 

Male assistant's salary raised to S|700. 

1837. Five hundred dollars appropriated for Teachers' Library. 
AnjonM'Vcy, Superintendent of Repairs, etc., appointed Sept. 7; sala- 
ry, $750. 

Executive Committee learn that French is being taught in several 
schools ; investigation ordered ; classes found in nearly every build- 
ing ; classes supported by parents and pupils at $1 per quarter; 
chiefly taught after school-hours ; unauthorized, therefore forbidden, 
and promptly suppressed ;, vocal music luul a similar history. 

1838. Lower classes first ordei'cd examined; previously only tlie highest had 

been. 
No. IG oj)ened in Fiftli Street. 



/ 







228 HISTORY OF rUBLIC EDUCATION. 

1838. Distribution of income of surplus llcvcnuo Fuml, ami cstubliohniciit of 

libraries. 

Name of African Schools clmngod to Colored Schools. 

Old No. 1 in Tryon Kow torn down, and scliool rcoi)cncd in new build- 
in}^ in William Street (it has been recently ayain removed to Van- 
dcwater Street). 

Joscjih Jjancaster again visits New York ; nsks and obtains use of room 
in No. f) for lectures to teachers ; jjrojioses to the trnstces that ho shall 
" take forty I'rinniry pupils who do not know their letters and tcacii 
them to read in from four to six weeks, using ten others as monitors ; 
he will not disclose his plan, nor j)ermit any one whomsoever to be 
present at any of his exercises with his jjupils — report adverse. He 
was killed a few days after by being run over in the street ; the Board 
suspended all business, and all the schools were closed to attend his 
funeral. 

Api)lication for a declaratory act as to the half-mill tax. 

1839. Three pupils from Public Schools liavc free scholarship in Columbia 

College. 

Property corner of Grand and Elm purchased for $i;),r>00, June 27, 
now Hall of tiic Board of Education. 
1810. Feb. 5, Montlily and semi-annual Certificates of Merit instituted. 

Kobcrt C. Cornell, President, died May, 1815. 

Beginning of the "religious" controversy of 1810-42. 

Expurgation of oflensivc passages from school-books. 

Total salaries of teachers, ,fGO,000. 

Many documents in the controversy on relii2;ion and schools. 

Kosolution "that music is not one of the branches taught in the Public 
Schools, Sept. G. 

fioO vagrant children brought to school by visitors in six months. 
ISII. Trustees' Hall comideted. 

Paying firc-nionitors ceases ; had ])reviously received ^5 a year and 
the ashes ; wood the only fuel ; schools heretofore chietiy swept, etc., 
by dolinciucnts. 

117G Vagrant children admitted; 3r)ti remain. 

Section No. 5 asks that tlic female assistant may bo permitted to teach 
girls of that school to sing ; time, after school ; no compensation 
asked — "declined." 

Ai)pointmcntof a committee of three to mark the performances of class- 
es in examinations. 
184:2. First recorded comparative table of the "marking system," April. 

Act of Ajiril establishes the Boakd of Education. 



THE END. 



